Life and Death
by animazing23
Summary: Death the Kid reunites with his childhood friend when she decides to attend the DWMA as a meister. How much has she changed in 10 years? What's so special about her and what about her weapons? Read and find out :  Death the Kid x OC
1. Characters

These are my OC's.

Disclaimer: I only own these characters. I don't own Soul Eater or any of the original characters!

Rai (meister):

Age: 16

Body Type: She's very small and childish looking for her age. Most underestimate her abilities, but her smallness does give her advantages in battle.

Hair: Wavy, orangey-red that reaches her waist. She normally wears it down with a beanie hat, but can be seen with it in pigtail braids when lounging.

Eye color: silver

Personality: Straightforward, confident, determined, fiery temper. Cares about her friends, sometimes acts and speaks before thinking. Her loud confidence her sometimes her weakness. She fits a stereotypical tomboy who loves music, sketching, and working on cars.

Family: Will be explained in greater detail later. It's a surprise ;)

Derek (weapon):

Age: 17

Body Type: Tall and lean

Hair: Dirty blonde, often hangs in his eyes.

Eye Color: brown

Personality: EXTREMELY flirtatious and somewhat lazy. Although he goofs off most of the time, he does care about the people close to him and can be serious when he needs to be. He's also somewhat protective of Rai because she

Family: His younger brother is Mason and they work together as weapons for their meister, Rai. (If you want to see their weapon forms, you have to keep reading) XD

Mason (weapon):

Age: 15

Body Type: a little shorter than Derek, but not as short as Rai XD

Hair: brown and spikey

Eye Color: brown (the eye color is about the only thing that Derek and Mason have in common.) He also wears glasses.

Personality: Mason is more of the quiet, studious type. He likes reading and is shy when you first meet him, but will open up eventually. He's also quite a push-over. He greatly admires Rai and Derek's outgoing personalities and relies on them greatly to make new friends.

Family: His older brother is Derek.

**Ok, so these are the characters. Honestly, I don't really want to keep posting unless I know at least one person is reading, so if you want more, please review and I will post the first chapter. If there are no reviews by 3 days, I will just delete the story. It'll be a shame though, considering I have a great story in mind, so please review! **


	2. The Arrival

Rai's POV

"Wow, it's a lot bigger than I remember!" I exclaimed as I walked up the stone steps of the DWMA marveling at its grandness. A sudden breeze swept through the air and teased my long, orange mermaid locks that fell down my back. I pushed the annoying strands in my face behind my ear and adjusted my beanie hat as I turned back to my partners. Apparently, I had gotten so excited that I left them behind.

The two boys that just happened to be my weapons trudged along at a sluggish pace.

"Rai, why are we here anyways? We've been doing fine collecting Kishin eggs by ourselves. I don't see why we have to go to school for it." Derek called out as he slouched in his own laziness.

I jogged back to the boys and reached up to give the offender a quick playful smack in the head. "Because this place actually means a lot to me, Derek. I used to visit somebody here when I was little…" I trailed off as distant memories invaded my mind. The most prominent involving a boy with 3 familiar white stripes. I shook my head to clear it, and then lowered my gaze.

"Plus, you guys have to admit that it's been a little lonely travelling the world only knowing each other. We could use some vacation time," I added quickly.

"At a SCHOOL?" Derek inquired. I nodded, still not seeing what the problem was. It's not like the DWMA was a normal school. He should be thankful for that.

Derek turned his head to look at his slightly shorter, brunette brother for support. Mason just shrugged and adjusted his glasses. "She's got a point. I couldn't hurt to try it out." I gave him a quick smile of thanks and glanced anxiously at our path. We were almost to the top of the stone staircase and then we would be there! When we finally reached the top, my breath left my lungs as I took in the entirety of the DWMA. It really was a sight for sore eyes.

My reminiscing was abruptly cut off with a loud "YAHOOOO!" I looked around for the source of the noise until Derek put his hand on the top of my head and lead my gaze upward. I could barely make out the form of somebody standing on one of the big metal spikes that decorated the building.

"Woah, that looks wicked! Why didn't I think of that? Guys, we gotta train up there sometime!" I squealed as I pointed excitedly at the location. As I glanced at my partners awaiting their confirmation, I could see Mason squinting at the spike.

"Uh, Rai? I think that guy up there is trying to get your attention."

"Huh?" I returned my line of sight back to the spike and put my hands on my hips. The figure was waving his arms around maniacally and shouting words that were hard to make out by this distance.

"…assassin…...Black*Star….God…."

I blinked. "Did you guys catch that?"

Derek shrugged. "Eh, let's just keep walking. Besides don't we have an appointment with Lord Death?"

"Oh, crap! I forgot!" I broke into a sprint with the boys on my tail. There was no way I was going to be late for this meeting! Suddenly, there was a loud crash in front of me and I covered my eyes as a cloud of dust appeared. I squinted through it and could vaguely see the outline of a boy with blue spiked hair. Apparently, he felt the need to jump down from that height just to get in my way when I was late. I turned my silver glare to him as Derek and Mason arrived at my sides.

"Need something?" I sneered.

The boy narrowed his eyes at me. "Where are you going that is more important that listening to my godly speech?"

I shrugged indifferently. "Oh, just going to see a REAL god. I have an appointment and you just happen to be in my way. Besides, you don't look like a god to me." I flicked my hair over my shoulder and grinned wickedly as I watched his muscles tense in anger. Behind my back, I felt Derek and Mason exchange a worried glance.

"DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHO YOU'RE TALKING TO? I AM THE GREAT ASSASSIN BLACK*STAR WHO WILL SURPASS GOD!" he shouted with his hands on his hips and his chest puffed out in pride.

Derek took a step forward. "Look man, we don't want any trouble…"

"Hey, who said that?" I interrupted. "I don't need you fighting my battles for me, Derek."He put his hands up in surrender then backed away to stand with Mason, who chose to stay quiet, which was probably a wise choice.

I returned my attention to Black*Star. "Look, either you move out of my way, or I'll make you move."

Black*Star chuckled. "A pipsqueak like you? There's no way!" Derek and Mason facepalmed, knowing what was coming next.

My face grew visibly red with anger. Calling me pipsqueak was the last straw! "Derek, Mason, let's do it." I commanded, my voice filled with rage. They sighed but did as they were told, walking to either side of me. As they began to glow a faint gold, I closed my eyes, and held out my arms perpendicular to my body, waiting for the familiar feel of their weapon forms. This guy was totally going down.

**Cliffhanger! Please review for more chapters! ****Honestly, I don't really want to keep posting unless I know at least one person is reading, so if you want more, please review and I will post the first chapter. If there are no reviews by 3 days, I will just delete the story. It'll be a shame though, considering I have a great story in mind, so please review!**


	3. We meet again

Still Rai's POV

Derek, Mason, let's do it." I commanded, my voice filled with rage. They sighed but did as they were told, walking to either side of me. As they began to glow a faint gold, I closed my eyes, and held out my arms perpendicular to my body, waiting for the familiar feel of their weapon forms. This guy was totally going down.

As I felt the weight of Derek and Mason in my hands, I opened my eyes and struck an offensive pose, ready to kick this guy's cheeky ass. Damn, now I was definitely going to be late!

Black*Star stared at the weapons in my hands, then burst out laughing. "THOSE are your weapons? That's hilarious! How can you beat anybody with those sissy things?" He was barely able to choke out the words through his laughter.

Despite myself, I smiled knowingly, then looked at the weapon forms of Derek and Mason in my hands. They had transformed into two beautiful golden fans. Unlike the flimsy material that traditional fans like these were normally made out of, these weapons were made with a durable metal substance. When opened, they were identical in every aspect with black stripes lining the creases where the fans would fold, and on the sharp outer edge. The tip that I used to hold the fans was molded to resemble the classic skull logo of Lord Death.

In my left hand, Derek's face reflected on the surface of the fan. "Hey, who you calling sissy? Rai, lets kick his ass already!"

In my right hand, Mason followed suit. "Yeah, let's just get this over with. The faster we beat him, the faster we see Lord Death."

I nodded in agreement and returned my silver gaze to Black*Star. "So, are you going to fight me without a weapon?"

Now that he could see that I was serious about fighting him, the assassin thought it was even funnier. "Are you kidding? A big shot like me can take you and your sissy fans down without a weapon!"

My lips twitched upwards. "Suit yourself, but you shouldn't underestimate us." I curled my arms upward and crossed them at the elbow so they formed a big X with the fans open and positioned on either side of my head. My muscles coiled to spring as I anticipated my first attack, but before I could make my first move, a voice called out from beside us.

"BLACK*STAR!"

I turned my head to the source of the voice and saw a tall, shapely girl with long black hair tied into a high ponytail. Her eyes widened as she took in the scene of me facing the assassin with my weapons in hand, ready for action.

Black*Star waved the girl over. "Tsubaki, you came just in time! I was about to prove to this new girl just what a big star I am. Just look at what she uses to fight with!"

I growled at him and could sense the anger and annoyance also radiating from Derek and Mason as well. Tsubaki walked over to stand next to Black*Star timidly. Glancing at him, she said, "If she's new here, then shouldn't we be making a good first impression?"

"Tell that to her," he said while pointing an accusing finger at me. "I was gracing her with my godly presence, but she walked right under me and tried to go into the school. Is that any way to treat the mighty assassin Black*Star?"

There was no way I was taking the blame for this. "Ugh, I was just trying not to be late for my meeting with Lord Death! But now I guess that's inevitable all thanks to you!" I yelled as I relaxed out of my attack stance, but still took a few menacing steps forward. Our eyes locked in an epic stare-down.

"Hey, what's going on out here?"

At the entrance to the school, another girl appeared with large forest green eyes and ash blonde hair tied up in pigtails. She had one hand on her hip while the other clutched a book to her chest as she surveyed the situation. Behind her, a boy with crimson eyes and messy white hair joined her with his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket.

The girl with the pigtails glanced at me, then at Black*Star with narrowed eyes. "Causing trouble again Black*Star?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No! I was just proving my godliness to this little brat!" Black*Star fumed. It seemed that he was beginning to get upset because nobody was taking his side. The boy with the white hair cocked his head at me.

"You're new here aren't you?" Then he shook his head sadly at the blue haired menace. "Picking on little girls isn't cool, Black*Star."

"Hey! I'm not a little girl!" I snapped while stomping my foot childishly. I couldn't help my height and child-like appearance. Contrary to popular belief, I was probably their age if not older.

Mason spoke up in my right hand. "Uh, Rai? If we're not going to fight, can we change back?"

I pouted, disappointed in missing the opportunity to prove ourselves. "Yeah, sure, whatever."

I threw the fans in midair, then squinted as they glowed gold again, then changed back to the boys as they landed on their feet. I crossed my arms across my chest, pulled down the rim of m beanie hat stubbornly, and still locked Black*Star with my steely gaze.

The blonde girl returned her focus to me like she had almost forgotten I was there. "Oh, I'm sorry. We haven't introduced ourselves." She smiled warmly and strode forward to meet us with her white haired friend in tow.

"My name's Maka Albarn. This is my partner Soul Eater." Soul offered a nod of hello to us.

"I'm Rai Tamaki. These are my weapons, Derek and Mason Greene."

"Yo," Derek said coolly with a two- fingered salute.

"Hello," Mason said shyly, lowering his gaze.

Soul glanced over at the boys. "So, are those really your weapon forms? How do you fight with them?"

I smiled mischievously. "Well, I guess you'll just have to wait and see."

Derek eyed Soul out of the corner of his eye, and then turned to address him. "So, Soul. What kind of weapon are you?"

Soul grinned widely, exposing a set of very sharp teeth. "I'm a scythe."

Staring at Maka, I was definitely impressed. The girl didn't look like she could handle a scythe, but apparently she could if she was the daughter of Spirit Albarn.

The girl in question spoke up, snapping me out of my staring. "So, are you guys settling in okay?"

"Uh, actually, I was supposed to get an important mission as soon as I got here, but this guy got in my way," I said as I pointed my thumb over my shoulder at Black*Star who was making his way over to our group with Tsubaki. He was about to say something, but his partner clamped her hand over his mouth, muffling his comment.

"Well, if you're looking for Lord Death, we'd be happy to take you there and show you around!" Tsubaki offered cheerily.

I opened my mouth to tell her that I already knew the layout of the building quite well, but I was cut off by a hand over my own mouth.

"We'd love to join you," Derek said with a voice like honey as he flipped his blonde hair out of his eyes. Tsubaki blushed in response.

"Alright then, let's go," Maka said as she and Soul led the pack through the entrance to the DWMA. Derek followed right behind them next to Tsubaki, chatting it up like the flirt he was while Black*Star fumed behind them.

I slowed my pace to walk with Mason, holding up the rear of the pack. "So, do you think we'll be happy here?" I asked.

He cupped his chin in thought. "Well, there's certainly some interesting characters here," he said while pointedly glancing at Black*Star. "But, I think we'll adjust okay."

"Yeah, it seems like we're fitting in already. And there's still so much I have to see…"

Before I knew it, we had reached the Death Room. Maka glanced in quickly. "You guys can probably just go ahead in since you had a meeting."

"Okay. C'mon guys!" I said excitedly as I tugged on Mason's timid hand and yanked Derek by the collar of his shirt to get him away from Tsubaki, despite his protests. My pace quickened as I walked under the line of guillotines. They always made me nervous.

When we reached the end, my gaze automatically locked on one thing. It wasn't the full sized swirly mirror or the spiky, black Shinigami that stood in front of it. My attention was fully focused on the familiar boy in the black suit with the 3 white stripes in his raven hair.

Lord Death glanced over his shoulder and noticed our arrival. "Oh, you guys finally showed up, huh? It's good to see ya!" he said cheerfully, flashing a piece sign with his oversized hand.

The boy turned to see who his father was addressing, then his golden eyes widened when he saw me. "Rai?"

I waved with a small smile on my lips. "Hey, Kid. Long time no see."

**Aaaaand, we'll end with another cliffhanger! XD So, I want to thank my reviewers for their support and I believe along the way, somebody promised me a cookie? Anyways, please leave reviews and/or any comments that you think will make the story better. Trust me, you will eventually see Rai fight and all questions will be answered. **


	4. Childhood friends

Rai's POV

"Hey, Kid. Long time no see." I said with a wave and a small smile. My heart beat loudly in my chest and everything seemed to happen in slow motion as my silver eyes met the shocked stare of his gold ones.

"What are you doing here? The last time I saw you was 10 years ago." He asked as he turned to face us. I just couldn't take it anymore! I ran over and glomped him like I had never glomped any human being before.

"I came to attend the DWMA and see you, silly!" I exclaimed with my arms around him. I was so happy to see him, that when I didn't feel him return the hug, I let go to look at him. His golden eyes were still wide with shock, but he still tried to be polite, ever the gentleman.

"Really? That's great. I didn't know you were a meister."

"Yeah, who woulda thought, right?" I said as I played with a strand of my orange hair. "I've been wanting to come here for years, but I just needed a little training first." I perked up, as I remembered by partners.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Get over here, you guys!" I said while waving Derek and Mason over. When they reached us, I made the introductions.

"These are my weapons, Derek and Mason. Guys, this is Death the Kid. We used to be best friends when we were little."

Kid politely shook their hands. "You can just call me Kid."

Derek gave him a quick once over. "So, you're really a death god, huh? No wonder you and Rai used to be friends, considering your parents." (A/N- Confused? Don't be. It will be explained later.)

"Yeah, I miss those good ole days," I said while playfully punching Kid in the shoulder. "But you haven't changed a bit. Still as symmetrical as ever, huh?" I said with a wink. Well, that did it. His professional demeanor melted away as a wide grin morphed his ever-present serious expression. Derek and Mason sweatdropped, confused as to why that statement would be taken as the greatest compliment ever.

"Oh, speaking of symmetry, did you ever find a weapon you liked? I heard that you were having trouble finding one." I said curiously.

"Yes, in fact, I did find weapons that suit me quite nicely. You will have to meet them later." He answered.

I blinked. "Weapons as in there's two of them?" I asked.

Lord Death broke in the conversation. "Yes, and they do make quite a good team, those three! Kiddo here is quite the shooter!"

"Oh, so they're guns, huh? That's so cool! We should train together sometime."

Kid smiled and nodded, then eyed my partners. "I see you got yourself a pair of weapons as well. While we're on the subject, what kind of weapons are you two?"

They were about to answer until I put my hands up to stop them. "Just let him wait with the others. Apparently, we're going to have an audience for our next mission."

Suddenly, a thought occurred to me. I cocked my head slightly and asked, "So how come you didn't know we were coming? I enrolled here weeks ago."

Lord Death clapped his hands together. "Ah, yes. That would be my fault. Rai's mother and I had a conversation about her enrolling here. I didn't tell you about it because I wanted to see the reunion of the happy couple. You two were so adorable when you were children, holding hands and sharing your toys. Ah, you two grew up too fast!" he said while playfully ruffling Kid's striped hair. I knew he would've done the same to me if I didn't have my beanie hat covering my head.

"Father!" Kid complained in embarrassment as he swatted his hand away and hurried to straighten his hair back to its symmetrical formation; I blushed as well.

"Happy couple?" Derek asked, wanting an explanation.

"Well, that was a long time ago. I'll explain later." I mumbled while fiddling with the hem of my shirt.

I turned my attention to the annoying Shinigami. "So, do you have an assignment for us, sir? I was told to come here to get it as soon as I arrived."

"Oh, that can wait until later. You should take some time to get settled in first!" Lord Death said while waving his oversized hand casually.

"We could use some time to unpack. We haven't even been to our apartment yet," Mason offered shyly.

I sighed, defeated. "Fine, we'll take a day to rest, then we'll come for the mission first thing tomorrow." I said determinedly as the boys nodded in agreement. I wasn't the only one hungry for action. It took so long to get here that we hadn't been on a good mission in weeks. I turned to walk towards the exit, but felt a hand on my shoulder, stopping me.

"Do you know where you're going? I can walk you to your apartment if you want. Obviously we have a lot to catch up on." Kid said gently.

"Yeah, I'd like that," I said with a grin. This was going to be a totally awesome day!

**So, the childhood sweethearts reunite. Whaddya think? If you have any comments on how to make it better, please let me know. You know the drill: please review, yadda yadda yadda. The next chapter is on the way! **


	5. Moving in and Memories

Rai's POV (later at their new apartment)

"Hey, where does this go?"

"Oh, bring that to Derek and Mason's room. It's over there on the left."

"Ugh, this is heavy!"

"Then let me carry it! A big star like me can handle a measly cardboard box!"

"Ok then, go ahead and take it."

"Woah, this is pretty heavy. What's in this thing?"

"Hey, move! You're blocking my way!"

"Rai, I'd forgotten how much junk we have."

Needless to say, our new apartment was crowded chaos as our new friends helped us move all our stuff in. The loading truck that my mother had sent us with all our belongings was a little more than half empty at this point, but we figured it wouldn't take much longer once Kid and his weapons showed up. I was glad I had something to do to pass the time, though. Waiting around on a normal day to finally meet Kid's weapons would probably be agonizing.

As I brought yet another cardboard box marked with my name to my room, I glanced around our new home. It was a nice, a standard two bedroom apartment with a living room opening up next to the kitchen and one bathroom. The walls were a bright, cheery yellow and we were lucky enough to get nice, clean carpeting under our feet. There was some standard furniture littering the place, so we were pretty much good to go.

When I reached the entrance to my room, I bumped the door open with my hip because my hands were occupied and my gaze swept across my my new living space. It was definitely going to need a paint job, but it was nice and cozy with a twin sized bed, a wooden dresser, and a small desk. I also had a window with a nice view of the city and I even had my own walk in closet which was definitely a good benefit, although it was currently blocked by a mountain of cardboard boxes containing my belongings. I pushed my bangs out of my face and groaned slightly. Just where the hell had we gotten this much stuff anyways? Unpacking it all after we finished bringing it in was going to be a huge pain. My lips twisted into a frown as I set down the box in my hands and kicked it over with the others, then walked back over to the door to get more stuff.

Before walking down the narrow hallway to go back outside to the moving van, I glanced into the bedroom across from mine and could see Mason stacking one of his marked boxes neatly along with the rest while Derek's just laid scattered in various areas about the room. They had agreed to share a room and I felt slightly guilty of depriving Mason of the neatness of his own room that he was accustomed to. But then again, there was no way I was sharing a room with Derek!

Suddenly, a hand reached down and tugged playfully on one of my pigtail braids. "Yo, princess! Are you just gonna stand there and let us do all the work?" Derek asked with his hands on his hips as if speaking to a child.

I growled and shoved him roughly out of the way. "How many times have I told you to quit calling me that?"

He chuckled at my frustration, then joined Mason in their bedroom. I glanced behind me and shook my head at his obnoxiousness, then almost ran into Soul in the narrow hallway.

"Oops! Sorry, Soul!" I squeaked past the large box he was carrying.

"Eh, it's no problem. So, where does this one go?"

I scanned the cardboard surface for an indentifying name. "Oh, this one's mine. Follow me." I said as I skipped down the hallway back to my room, then moved out of his way so he could squeeze through the small frame.

"Hey, thanks again for helping us out, Soul. I don't even want to think about how long this would've taken without you guys," I said while flipping one of my orange pigtail braids over my shoulder. Normally I switched my entire outfit while I was lounging or working like this. I had changed into a plain white tank top with camo shorts and black converse.

"Nah, it's no problem, Rai. Besides, leaving friends with all this work isn't cool," he replied as he set the box down with the others and then ran a hand through his messy white hair.

"Yeah. We really appreciate it." I said with a smile, meeting his crimson gaze. "Well, we should probably get some more stuff!"

I raced out the door, down the hallway, and down the steps of our apartment to get yet another box from the moving van. Tsubaki was given the task of sitting inside the truck and handing the boxes to us as we came in and out of the house; she was in the process of handing one to Maka.

"Hey guys. Are we making any progress?"

Tsubaki glanced behind her into the truck. "Only a few more boxes are left."

"Awesome!" I said with a big thumbs-up. "In that case, we'll take a lunch break soon."

"YAHOOOOO!" I gritted my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut at the signature line of the annoying blue haired assassin.

"What's that idiot doing now?" Maka mumbled.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out," I said as I raced quickly back up the stairs and into the entrance of our apartment. In the living room, I found no other than Black*Star carrying four large boxes that towered over his head.

"Black*Star! Be careful with that, you idiot!" I shouted as I ran over to try to help. The tower of boxes began teetering dangerously.

"Ha! You're just jealous that I little pipsqueak like you can't carry a heavy load like this! But this is no match for the great assassin Black*Star!" he declared while trying to find his way to the narrow hallway over to humongous stack of boxes.

"You're gonna drop them! Don't be stupid, just give me one already," I said impatiently while tugging at one of the boxes he was carrying. He lifted one of his arms, trying to swat me away, but instead the tower of boxes started swaying.

"Uh-oh," was all Black*Star could say before all the boxes fell on top of us, burying our bodies in an avalanche of clothes and other various kick-knacks and belongings. It wasn't long before I heard the footsteps ad voices of our friends come to see if we were okay.

"Woah, what happened here?"

"It looks like a tornado hit this place!"

"Black*Star, you idiot!"

"Why do you assume that it was me?"

"Because you're Black*Star."

"Totally not a cool move, man."

"Wait a minute, where's Rai?"

"Oh no, is she dead? I think I killed her!"

I growled and shoved a pile of t-shirts off my head. "I'm not dead!" I growled as I struggled to get the rest of the junk from the boxes off my body. Maka and Tsubaki rushed over to help me stand up.

"Are you okay?" Tsubaki asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I assured them, brushing myself off. I then put my hands on my hips and my silver eyes murderously searched the group for blue hair. I finally found him cowering behind Derek's tall frame.

"Black*Star, you idiot! Look what you did!" I yelled as I strode over and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, yanking him down to my level. Curse my height.

The assassin grinned goofily. "Well, I don't really blame the boxes. Literally everything trembles in fear of my godliness."

My face turned visibly red with rage. I raised up a fist to punch him, but was interrupted by a voice.

"Hey, what's this?"

I turned my head to find Maka holding an old leather book and staring at the pages with fascination. My grip loosened on Black*Star's shirt.

"Is that what I think it is?" I left the assassin and strode over to glance at the old book, anger completely forgotten.

On the pages were various pictures of two children: one with long, wavy orange hair and one with black hair and three white strips on one side. The pictures showed them laughing and holding hands. One of them captured the girl eating an ice cream cone while the boy struggled to get his fair share. Another one depicted the pair building a sand castle on a beach (and a very symmetrical one at that) and then the girl smashing it down while the boy was curled up in the fetal position, crying. As Maka flipped through the pages, the rest of the gang came to glance over our shoulders, curiously.

"Woah, is that who I think it is?" Soul asked.

"Aw, they look so cute together!" Tsubaki commented at a picture of us snuggled together, asleep on a couch.

"But he looks so…..happy." Black*Star commented.

I smiled wistfully. "Yep, that's me and Kid. A long, long time ago."

**I think this has to be my favorite chapter that I've written so far. I hope that you enjoyed it to! Please leave comments and reviews; I love to see people enjoying my story and I appreciate any constructive criticism you have to offer. Thanks to those who have supported me from the beginning. Next chapter is on the way!**


	6. Remembering the Past

Rai's POV

"Oooh, look at this one!" Maka squealed excitedly while pointing to another photograph in the album. It depicted me and Kid at age 5 holding two balloons in each hand, smiling broadly with our faces painted in bright colors and a giant ferris wheel towering the background.

"Oh yeah, I remember that. We went to the carnival one summer and Kid practically had to threaten the balloon guy to give each of us two of them. There had to be one in each hand for symmetry, of course," I proclaimed while pointing a finger of authority in the air. Everybody bit their bottom lip and put a hand over their mouths to try to contain their snickers.

"And then there was the face paint issue," I continued. "He sat in the chair for hours and made the poor woman do it over and over again until she got it perfectly symmetrical," I explained. Unable to hold it back any longer, we all burst out laughing, holding our stomachs as it grew more intense.

As I wiped tears from my eyes, I smiled at my friends. I was happy that I could share these parts of my past with people who actually knew and understood Kid and who were interested in learning more about him. Then, my eyes unwillingly trailed to the floor of our living room. Apparently, the huge mess that Black*Star had made wasn't as important as going through my old photo album, so after a few attempts at trying to clean it, I gave up and narrated every picture that they asked me to. Eventually, we had moved to sit on the couch with me holding the book and turning the pages sitting between Maka and Tsubaki while Soul and Mason sat perched on the arms of the couch and Black*Star and Derek hovered behind us. It wasn't long until I was actually enjoying reliving these distant memories, but I think that the gang was having even more fun hearing about Kid's mysterious childhood days.

"Uh, Rai? What is Kid doing in this one?" Soul asked as he reached in front of Maka to point at a picture of Kid chasing me with a pair of scissors in his hand, a determined expression on his flushed face.

"That was the day after I had my hair cut. He noticed that one side was a couple centimeters shorter than the other, so he was trying to help me by evening it out."

"So he's always been obsessed with symmetry even as a little kid?" Black*Star asked, shoving his head between ours to get a better view.

"Pretty much. Well, at least, as long as I've known him," I answered before putting my hand on his forehead and shoving him back in his spot.

"It's hard to believe Kid actually used to be happy and smile all the time. This is like a whole different side of him," Soul said while shaking his head in disbelief.

"Yeah, I noticed that he had changed a lot since the last time we saw each other," I mention quietly as I fiddled with one of my pigtail braids and thought back to our reunion in the Death Room and how he hadn't returned my hug.

"When was that?" asked Mason.

"Huh?" I said, snapping out of my thoughts.

"The last time you saw him, I mean before yesterday. When was it?"

I put my finger to my chin and did some quick math in my head. "Uh, about 10 years ago, I guess."

"Wow, what happened? It looks like you two used to be really close," Tsubaki said as she examined a picture of me gawking in childlike awe as Kid showed off his talents on his new skateboard, Beelzebub.

"It's a long story. I'll tell you guys later," I replied bluntly, almost relieved that we had gone through most of the album.

Turning the last page of the leather book, my silver eyes were immediately drawn to one picture in particular. It was of me and Kid standing side by side, one arm around the shoulder of the other, posing goofily with mirroring piece signs. In this position, we were the perfect characterization of the symmetry that Kid cared so much about. In fact, this picture was taken the last time I saw him.

"Wow, you two did make a cute couple," Tsubaki commented.

Derek flushed. "But that was a long time ago, right Rai? You two haven't seen each other in 10 years, so there's no way that you can still be a couple," he said quickly.

Everybody in the room slowly turned to look at him, eyeing his red face and wide brown eyes.

"What?" he asked defensively.

"You wouldn't happen to be jealous, would you Derek?" Soul teased.

Derek put his hands up defensively and back up a few steps. "No, it's nothing like that! I just…feel like I have a big brother instinct to protect my meister," he huffed.

Black*Star wiggled his eyebrows, evilly. "Oh really? Is that all it is, Derek? Because it sure seems to me like…"

"Guys! Lay off!" I commanded while folding my arms over my chest. I knew for a fact that Derek DID NOT feel that way about me. It was just like he said, a big brother instinct, nothing more. I had experienced it many times before to know that it did indeed exist, but I knew Black*Star wasn't going to sit there and accept that logic, so I gritted my teeth and waited for his comeback. Thankfully, there was a loud knock on the door before he had the chance to open his big mouth again.

"I'll get it," I mumbled grouchily as I handed the photo album to Maka, hauled myself off the couch, and stepped over the mess of the living room to reach the door. Looking through the peephole to see who was outside, a wide smile spread on my face.

"Kid!" I exclaimed as I threw the door open so hard, it almost dislocated from its hinges. Kid jumped slightly at my outburst, then returned my smile, though his was somewhat more sheepish.

"Hello, Rai. Sorry we're so late."

My eyes widened as I took in his casual appearance that was so different from yesterday. He wore a nice black button-down shirt, which accented well with his black and white striped hair, and had his hands stuffed in the pockets of his dark blue jeans. Then, my eyes met his and I got totally lost in their golden depths. This person standing in front of me was more like the Kid that I remembered, the Kid that I grew up with as a child. I sighed happily, glad to see that he was still there and hoped that I would get to see this side of him more often than the stiff, professional alter-ego in the black suit, aspiring to be like his father. Or maybe this one was the alter-ego and the boy in the suit was just who he was now; I just didn't know him as well as I used to.

My thoughts were interrupted as Kid politely cleared his throat. When I snapped out of my daze, I noticed that there were two other girls standing there with him. One was tall and lean and had long, dirty blonde hair going past her shoulders while the other was slightly shorter with her bright blonde hair about chin-length.

"Rai, I'd like you to meet my weapons, Liz and Patty Thompson," he announced as he gestured to each one by name.

I gaped at them in shock. They were not only both girls, they were sisters, and well endowed sisters at that. Upon closer examination, I noticed that they both had the same blue eyes and wore the same clothes, which showed off way more skin than what I would've liked.

Gulping down my urge to tell them to cover up, I put a smile on my face for a good first impression and said, "It's nice to meet you both."

"So you're the famous Rai we've been hearing all about," Liz said, looking me up and down with a hand on her hip.

"Yeah, Kid hasn't stopped talking about you since you came back!" Patty exclaimed as she playfully slapped him on the back and giggled.

"What? I have not!" Kid proclaimed as his face began to flush with embarrassment. I smiled, starting to like these sisters more by the minute, and stepped out of the doorway.

"Why don't you guys come inside?"

"Sure, thanks," Liz said as they stepped through the entrance.

"Sorry about the mess," I apologized in advance, "but Black*Star decided to carry more boxes than he could handle."

"Hey, I thought I told you that the boxes fell because they were afraid of my godliness!" Black*Star shouted from across the room, shaking a fist in my direction.

"Oh, you three finally made it," Maka said as she noticed them entering the living room.

Patty hopped from foot to foot as she evaded the mess on the ground, trying to make her way over to the couch and cheering, "Black*Star made a mess! Black*Star made a mess!" in a sing-song voice; she vaguely reminded me of a child with her peculiar behavior. Then I turned my attention to Liz and found her, of course, chatting up a storm with Derek who was currently working his magic as he flipped his blonde hair out of his face and batted his eyelashes which, of course, made her face go beet red. Those two would get along just fine.

Rolling my eyes, I turned back to look at Kid who was, to my surprise, not standing next to me like he was a moment earlier. Peering back inside the room, I spotted him hunched over the edge of the mess, frantically organizing the belongings into piles.

"You okay, Kid?" I asked as I approached cautiously and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Not symmetrical," he mumbled as he continued his work.

"Oh, okay. Go ahead and do what you need to do," I said with a nod as I straightened up and walked back over to join with the others.

"Aren't you going to try to stop him?" Mason asked, still perched on the arm of the couch and glancing at Kid out of the corner of his eye.

"Nah, he used to do this all the time when we were kids. I learned that the best way to deal with it is to just let him ride it out," I explained.

"Oh, speaking of that, I wanted to ask you something," Maka announced as she stood up from the couch and smooth down her skirt.

"Okay, what is it?"

"How exactly did you and Kid meet?" she asked with her head cocked to the side and her green eyes brimming with curiosity. Suddenly, the room went completely silent as heads all turned to my direction, eagerly awaiting my answer.

"You mean you didn't tell them?" a voice called from behind me. I turned to see that Kid had momentarily stopped his quest for symmetry to stand up and join in on this part of the conversation.

"No, I guess I was waiting for the right time…" I said quietly while absentmindedly rubbing my arm. Kid stopped at my side and met my silver gaze with his gold one, then put a comforting hand on my shoulder and gave a gentle, supportive squeeze.

Sighing heavily, I turned to address my friends. "But I guess now I shouldn't keep this from you guys any longer. I can't make any more excuses," I said as I bit my lip nervously.

Now, I was going to have to tell them everything. After this, they might never look at me the same again.

**In the next chapter EVERYTHING about Rai's past will be explained. It's gonna be a good one, so be sure to read and review cuz the more commentary I get, the more incentive I have to continue the story! Hope you guys are enjoying it!**


	7. Explanations

Rai's POV

"Okay, I guess I'll start at the beginning," I said as I hunched my shoulders in defeat and trudged to sit back on the couch with the others. Now, as I positioned myself cross-legged on the piece of furniture, I was once again in between Maka and Tsubaki and it was Soul and Black*Star who were perched on the arms of the couch with Liz and Patty leaning over the back, listening intently. All their attention was completely focused on me, waiting for the beginning of the story, desperately wanting to hear the explanation to why Kid and I grew up together.

Derek and Mason, already knowing the truth I was about to confess, backed away from the group quietly to begin picking up the mess to give us some space. Kid glanced at me, looking for any signs of discomfort, which I actually had none of. It wasn't like I was uncomfortable with my past or identity, I was just scared that my friends would never treat me the same way again. I locked eyes with him and nodded with a small smile of assurance. Satisfied with that, he walked over to help Derek and Mason clean up the mess. As I pushed a lock of my bangs out of my face, I thought about how sweet it was that he would think about how I was feeling before considering cleaning up an asymmetrical disaster. In his way, that was like the ultimate deed of showing that he cared. Glancing at my friends' faces and noticing their eager expressions, I curled my hands in my lap and began my story.

"Kid and I were born in the same year, really only a few months apart. You see, my mother and Kid's father were both worried that we would never find a suitable partner to match up with, which would be ultimately disastrous for the world." Black*Star opened his mouth to say something, but I silenced him by holding up my hand.

"Just wait till I'm done, then you can ask all the questions you want." For once, he actually listened and closed his mouth reluctantly.

"Anyway, I was really supposed to be a weapon, and Lord Death knew that his son was going to be a meister just like him, so it was arranged even before we had learned to walk, that we would become each other's eventual partners; the only thing our parents had to do was to get us to like each other and synchronize soul wavelengths. Their plan was that every summer, I would come and temporarily stay at the DWMA to visit Kid and spend time with him so that we could get to know each other. The first time they brought us together was when we were three-year-olds."

_Flashback (a three year old Rai's POV)_

_I panted heavily as I climbed the treacherous stone staircase, holding my mommy's hand as we ascended. We had already walked through most of the city all the way to this large building in the center with giant skulls, flaming candles, and spikes decorating the exterior; of course it had to be built at the very top of these stupid stairs! My little three-year-old body could only endure so much, but I was determined to keep up with my mother who was taking her time, pretending to walk slower than usual so that she wouldn't trip on her long, white sundress. However, I knew it was because she wanted me to think that I was doing a good job keeping up with her._

_I still didn't know why my mommy brought me here to a city in the middle of a desert and why I had to pack all of my clothes like we were moving. Curiously, I asked, "Mommy, why did we come here, again?"_

_My mother pushed some of her long, bright orange hair behind her ear and gazed down at my small, round face with adoring silver eyes that looked just like mine. "I told you before, sweetie. It's a surprise," she answered mysteriously._

_I scowled, not accustomed to having secrets kept from me, and placed a dimpled hand over my eyes, squinted at the laughing sun. The heat radiating from it was making me uncomfortably hot in my overalls and sneakers, but I could see that we were almost to the top of this mountain that some person dared to call a staircase. A newly-found energy overcame me as I saw our goal and I began taking two steps at a time to get there faster, dragging mommy behind me by her delicate hand. When we finally reached the top, my eyes widened in complete awe as I observed the massive building that towered over my head and stretched to the sky. It looked so much smaller from the old bus we took to get here._

_My starstruck gape was cut short as I noticed my mother walking forward to greet somebody. I ran to catch up with her and noticed a tall, black, spiky man in a skull mask covering his face. Slightly frightened, I clutched my mother's sundress and hid behind her frame from the scary looking man._

"_It's nice to see you again, Lord Death," my mother said in her soft voice as she put a comforting hand on my shoulder. I slowly peeked around her to glance at the man in confusion. Is this the person that we came all this way to meet with?_

"_It's great to see you too, Eva! It's been too long, hasn't it?" the man exclaimed, addressing my mother while bouncing up and down. I blinked rapidly, then started giggling at his funny voice and personality that didn't match his appearance at all. Hearing the small noise I made, the man cocked his head comically to the side and walked forward, eyeing me as I hid shyly behind my mother._

"_And who's this?" he asked. "This girl can't possibly be little Rai, can it?" I nodded shyly in response. "My goodness, look how much you've grown! You're practically the spitting image of your mother, now. You probably don't remember me, but I am Lord Death. I met you when you were just a tiny little thing!" he said as he brought out a comically oversized hand and motioned with his thumb and pointer finger just how small I had been. _

_Uncertain about this strange man, I looked up at my mother's face for some sort of reassurance. "It's okay, Rai. Lord Death is a very good friend of mine. He may look a little scary at first, but he's completely harmless," my mother said with a smile on her pretty face. Glancing back at the spiky man, I saw him characterize her words by making a goofy peace sign with two fingers of his blocky hand._

_I slowly unclenched my fist from my mommy's dress and took a tentative step forward, feeling my fear of this funny man begin to evaporate even as he took another step closer and held out his hand towards me._

"_I hope that we can be friends Rai," he said gently. Glancing back at my mother and seeing her smile and nod in encouragement, I slowly reached out with my tiny hand and put it in his. It was hard and kind of blocky, but there was a strange warmth to it, almost resembling that of human skin. My gaze travelled back upward until it reached Lord Death's mask. I smiled at him, wondering how I could've ever thought he was scary in the first place._

"_Well, why don't we go inside now? There's somebody that your mother and I want you to meet!" he explained excitedly while glancing at the entrance to the building. I turned back to my mother and held my hand out, beckoning her to join us. She complied and walked over to my other side, taking my left hand while my right hand still remained in Lord Death's grasp._

_As the three of us walked through the hallways of the building, I noticed a lot of other kids wandering around, most of them teenagers carrying backpacks. When we passed them, they gaped at the image of Lord Death walking through the halls holding the hand of a little girl. Lord Death must've noticed my confusion because he said, "This building is a school called the DWMA, Rai. Here, weapons and meisters are training to fight Kishin eggs in order to create a Death Scythe for me to use. Someday, when you get older, you will probably be a student here too." My eyes widened as I thought about fighting evil just like all the older kids. It sounded like so much fun! _

_After turning down a few various hallways, we finally passed through an entrance way marked with Lord Death's skull logo. Glancing above our heads, my eyes darted nervously to the guillotine arches that marked the path we were travelling._

"_It's okay, Rai," Lord Death assured me, "they're not going to fall on us unless I want them to." Still not fully convinced, I clutched his hand tighter and slightly quickened my pace. _

_Thankfully, we reached the end and the room opened up in front of us. On a platform ahead, there was a small coffee table with four cushions beneath it and four cups of tea waiting for us. Surrounding the entire area around the platform were small, wooden crosses that were scattered as far as the eye could see and the ceiling above our heads depicted a clear blue sky speckled with fluffy clouds. Behind the coffee table stood a large, full length mirror with somebody standing in front of it. As he turned to face us, I could see it was a little boy that looked to be around my age. He wore a little black t-shirt with a nice pair of jean shorts and sneakers. I couldn't stop staring at his hair which was black, but three horizontal white stripes decorated only one side of his head. It was different, interesting, and almost as captivating as his golden eyes which observed our approach with curiosity. _

_Lord Death released my hand from his grasp and glided forward to stand next to the boy as my mother and I climbed the steps to the top of the platform to join them. As we stood facing each other, I saw mommy and Lord Death exchange a hopeful glance before the Shinigami broke the silence._

"_Rai, I'd like you to meet my son, Death the Kid," he announced while gesturing to the boy and nudging him forward. The boy gave his father a slight glare, then reluctantly walked forward while my mother let go of my hand and nudged me forward to meet him halfway._

_Death the Kid met my eyes shyly and spoke with a soft, timid voice. "Hi, it's nice to meet you."_

"_It's nice to meet you too, Death the Kid."_

"_You can call me Kid….that is, if you want to," he stuttered, blushing slightly._

_I giggled. "Okay, Kid." Absentmindedly, my tiny fingers wove their way through my long hair and I jumped as I heard a slight pinging sound. Glancing at the floor, I noticed that the one of the clips that held one side of my wavy hair out of my face had fallen to the floor._

"_Oops!" I squeaked bending to pick it up. Holding it in my fingers, I held my hair back as I prepared to put it back in._

"_Wait!" Kid said as he held out a hand to stop me, then brought it down quickly, embarrassed at his outburst. He lowered his eyes to the floor, then began rubbing his arm shyly. "C-could you….let me do it. They need to be even," he mumbled, glancing up at me through his lashes._

_I blinked a couple times before his words reached my brain. "Uh, sure," I answered handing him over the silver clip. He smiled broadly and took the clip with a dimpled hand and stepped over so that he could get a better angle on my hair. Standing completely still, I observed this strange boy as he gathered one side of my hair into his fingers, slid the clip into place, then took a few steps back to compare it to the other side._

"_There, it's perfect," he declared proudly with his hands on his hips in triumph._

_Behind our backs, Lord Death and my mother smiled knowingly, then glanced at each other and nodded._

_(end of flashback)_

"And that's basically how we met," I finished. The room was completely silent as they absorbed the information, then Black*Star slowly raised his hand.

I rolled my eyes and pointed to him. "Yes, Black*Star?"

"There's still something I don't get. Why was it so important that you and Kid had to be matched together. You said that the world would be in chaos unless you two found good partners. Why?"

I smiled faintly. "I was wondering when you were going to ask that," I said, uncrossing my legs and slowly standing up from the couch.

"Our parents wanted us to pair up because we would balance each other out. We are completely opposites in pretty much every way possible….even supernaturally," I explained as I took a few steps forward, then turned on my heel to face them.

"So you see, Kid is the son of Death himself," I said, gesturing to him as he finished putting the last of the mess back into the boxes. They all nodded, understanding that part, but still uncertain with where I was going with this logic.

I took a deep breath before I continued. "Naturally, I am the complete opposite." Meeting each pair of their eyes with my own, I finally spoke the truth.

"I was born a god as well. Kid may be the son of Death, but I, however, am the daughter of Life."

**Is everything starting to make a little more sense now? If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll try to answer them as best I can in the next chapter. So read and review and all that jazz….**


	8. Who I Am

Rai's POV

Complete silence filled the room as the entirety of the words that just came out of my mouth sunk into the brains of my friends. If I wasn't so nervous about their reactions, I would've laughed at their dumbfounded expressions. They all gaped at me with my wide eyes and mouths hanging open, blinking rapidly as the wheels turned in their heads to process the information, all except for Patty whose eyes had glazed over a long time ago. I doubt that she had even heard a word that I had said through her daydreaming. I sweatdropped as I waited patiently for somebody to speak first, hoping that their next words would be positive.

Soul decided that he would break the silence on his own. "The daughter of Life, huh?" he said, closing his crimson eyes and running a hand through his white hair. When he opened them again, he met my gaze and asked, "What exactly does that mean?"

I calmly walked back to the couch they were still sitting on and picked up my deserted photo album. Turning to the very back I stuck my hand in a hidden pocket on the surface of the leather hardback, fishing for a particular picture that might help me explain better. When my fingers brushed the fragile paper of the photograph, I gently slipped it out of the pocket and turned it to face the group. The picture was taken the day that I met Kid and was what really inspired me to create the photo album. It showed the little three-year-old version of me in my overalls standing next to my mother in her white sundress and holding her hand with a smile on my face. Next to me, Kid stood in front of his father as a big, blocky hand rested on his shoulder. He was not exactly smiling, but not exactly frowning either which was an obvious sign that we hadn't spent any time together yet; those days were actually worth smiling about.

Gesturing for everybody to come closer, I pointed to my mother in the picture and asked, "Do you see this woman?" The group all nodded their heads, still a bit confused.

"This woman is my mother," I said, pausing for emphasis before I continued, "and she created every single one of your souls along with everybody else on this planet. She creates your strengths, your weaknesses, your personalities, and pretty much everything else about you that you yourselves probably have yet to discover. In short, she gives you your life. That's what it means."

Now they had a better grasp on the situation.

"You mean, somebody like that actually exists?" Liz asked, clutching her chest as if she were grasping the very soul my mother had created for her.

I nodded, my eyes conveying my seriousness. "Yes. Just like Death is a physical being that exists in this world, so is Life."

"So if she's your mother, then you really are a goddess too," Tsubaki commented while pointing at me, eyes wide with wonder. I heard Black*Star snort as the word "goddess" left her mouth. I kinda agreed with him while glancing down at my tank top and baggy camo shorts. At first sight, I definitely did not look like classic goddess material.

"So, does that mean you have the same powers as your mother? Can you create souls too?" Maka asked, leaning forward excitedly.

I shook my head. "No, not yet. My mother tried to train me a few years ago, but I'm still young, so creating a full soul at this point would probably seriously injure me," I explained as I gently tucked the picture back in its place.

"But you will be able to eventually, right?" Tsubaki asked.

"In due time, I guess," I said, shrugging nonchalantly and closing the leather book once again.

"So, I'm guessing that one day you'll take over for your mom just like Kid, right?" Liz asked.

I winced at the thought of so much responsibility on my shoulders. "Yeah, but that's not going to happen for a while. Right now, I'm just gonna stick to fighting Kishin eggs." I answered quickly.

"But why?" Maka asked, tilting her head in confusion. "Why are you trying to make a Death Scythe if you are a Goddess of Life? Isn't that a little contradictive?"

I sighed heavily. "Now that's a whole different story all on its own. I'll get to that later," I said as trudged back over to the couch and plopped ungracefully on the cushions. Positioning myself back into cross-legged mode, I hunched my shoulders, closed my eyes, and put my fingers to my temples like I had a headache.

"So, what do you guys think about all this? I know it's a lot to take in," I said as I cautiously opened one eye to peek at them.

Maka and Tsubaki were the closest in my field of vision, so I examined their faces as they broke into wide smiles.

"You really think something like that could push us away? I should really Maka-Chop you for that," Maka replied playfully while throwing an arm over my shoulder.

Tsubaki nodded supportively, agreeing with Maka's comment. "She's right, Rai. We're your friends and we accept you no matter what."

"Yeah. If we didn't, that would be totally uncool," Soul added, breaking into a smile that displayed his sharp teeth.

My silver eyes widened at them, surprised by their reaction to my confession. "So, you guys don't care if I'm a goddess or not? You're not going to treat me any differently?"

"We put up with Kid, don't we? Trust me, he's a lot worse then you," Soul chuckled, reaching over to pat me on the knee while we glanced over at Kid who had just finished packing the mess back into the boxes and was arguing with Derek about the asymmetrical way he was stacking them.

"Well, now your history with him makes a lot more sense," Liz stated with her pointer finger in the air. When Patty heard her sister's voice, her eyes refocused, then glanced around.

"What did Patty miss?" she asked innocently.

Everybody sweatdropped and I groaned slightly, not wanting to have to explain everything again. Luckily, Liz was there to save me.

"Nothing at all, Patty. We were just….talking about giraffes," Liz said while putting an arm around Patty's shoulder.

"Yay! Giraffes!" Patty shouted as she put her hands in the air and started spinning in circles. I looked at Liz who shrugged, watching her sister twirl with childish glee. I suppose that it wouldn't really matter to Patty if I was a goddess or not; that kind of information wasn't really important to her. I was amazed at how Kid would put up with these two, let alone fight with them. How did Patty even have enough of an attention span to stay focused in battle?

"Yahoo! I just realized something!" Black*Star proclaimed as he stood up and balanced himself on the arm of the couch. "This means that now I have two gods who get to sit back and watch as I surpass them with my greatness!" Black*Star shouted, with his arms proudly crossed over his chest, satisfied with the turn of events.

I rolled my eyes, then smiled at the first friends I had ever really made besides Kid. While Kid understood what I was going through because he was experiencing the same thing, these people accepted me having absolutely no clue what my life was like. No wonder Kid was so comfortable around them!

Suddenly, my stomach grumbled loudly, interrupting our beautiful, gushy moment. "Wow, all this moving in and life-changing confession stuff is making me hungry. Anybody wanna go out for lunch?" I asked glancing around.

"Sounds cool."

"Yay! Patty wants food!"

"I'm pretty hungry too."

"My godly stomach requires sustenance!"

"Sure, I'm up for it."

Leaping up from the couch with new energy, I bounced over to Derek, Mason, and Kid as they finished stacking the boxes in a perfectly symmetrical formation. "Yo, guys! We're going out for lunch. C'mon, let's go!" I exclaimed, waving them over to the door.

"Awesome. Lunch time!" Derek said, pumping a fist in the air.

"Alright, then. Let's go," Mason agreed.

As everybody filed out through the entrance, discussing which restaurant had the best food and what they were in the mood for, Kid stayed behind as I turned the key to lock the door to the apartment.

"So, I'm guessing it went well?" he asked, knowing very well what my answer would be.

I turned to face him, shoving the key into one of the pockets of my camo shorts. "Yep. Those are some pretty awesome friends you got there." I said as I glanced at them waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs.

"Yeah, I know," he replied, with a ghost of a smile on his pale face. "Well, shall we?" he asked while gesturing to the stairs.

"I'll race ya!" I exclaimed, jumping down the steps two at a time, not bothering to check behind me to see if he was following. Yeah, I could definitely get used to it here.

**So, what do you guys think of the chapter now that her role is explained a little better? Coming up in the next few chapters is the moment you've all been waiting for: the fight scene with Derek and Mason's weapon forms. So review and stuff…..**


	9. ANNOUNCEMENT AND SHOUTOUT

**Okay, so this is just a quick update and announcement: I would like to send a HUGE thank-you to one of my readers who was awesome enough to not only read my story, but offered to DRAW my OC for me. She did an AMAZING job, so I would like to send a shout-out to queen of magicians: YOU TOTALLY ROCK! I really appreciate you taking your time to make that for me, and it looks awesome.**

**Soooooo, if you want to see her drawing of Rai, go to the devianART website, type in pinkflame18, then look at her picture titled "OC for animazing23"**

**Be sure to leave comments saying what you think and go ahead and spam queen of magician's message board! SPREAD THE LOVE BABY! Oh, and the next chapter is on the way! Thanks guys!**


	10. Our Mission

**Hey guys! I'm so sorry about not updating for a while! I've been really busy with my job and studying for my SATs. I'll try not to let it happen again. So anyway, I know this chapter is kinda short and not that great, but I'll try to make the next one better. It's gonna be the REAL fight scene.**

"So, Rai. Are you ready for your first mission?" Lord Death asked, tilting his head to the side. Yes! This was finally the moment I had been waiting for, the chance to finally prove myself.

I straightened up professionally at his question and nodded firmly. "Yes, sir. We've gotten plenty of rest over the past few days and now we're more than ready for the assignment." Derek and Mason nodded in agreement at my sides.

"Okie dokie then! I'll fill you three in on what's going on!" he exclaimed, clapping his giant hands together. "You see, there is a Kishin egg that's causing trouble down in South America. We've tracked his whereabouts to Bolivia and now we're waiting for the right team to send to take him out."

"And that's us, right?" Derek cheered, pumping a fist in the air at the challenge. Mason rolled his eyes at his brother's enthusiasm, but I could see the look in his eyes that longed for action. He just wasn't as verbal about things as his older brother.

Lord Death nodded at Derek's statement. "Yep, the mission is all your's, that is, if you wish to accept it. This Kishin is particularly tricky, so we've been saving it for a skilled meister, but I think you three will be able to handle it."

Mason cocked and eyebrow and asked, "What's so dangerous about this particular Kishin egg, sir?"

"Ah, thank you for reminding me! I almost forgot to mention that this Kishin egg has partially morphed into a demonic animal; a scorpion to be exact. His fighting skills are particularly lethal because of this, but I guess you'll have to see that for yourself."

Mason didn't seem intimidated by this information. At my other side, Derek just snorted arrogantly. "Psh, it would be boring if we didn't have a challenge anyway," he said as he nonchalantly laced his hands behind his head with a smirk.

I nodded in agreement. "And we are going to have an audience, after all. We might as well entertain them." I didn't say outloud that I also needed this challenge because I would be representing my mother in this mission.

"So, I take it that you accept the assignment?"

"We accept, sir," the three of us replied in unsion.

"Excellent! I'll have a plane ready for you by this evening. Good luck!" he exclaimed, waving a hand at us. We nodded seriously, then turned to leave and get ready for the beginning of our new lives.

_**(later on that day)**_

"Rai, we have to go! We have to be at the jet by 6 pm," Mason called down the hallway towards my room.

"Just a minute!" I replied, undoing my left braid and running my fingers through the wavy locks to loosen them. When the knots were all combed out, I gathered up a chunk of the hair and shoved a clip in my mouth. When I got the right amount of the orange strands in my fingers, I took the clip out of my mouth and put it into place so that my hair was kept out of my face. When that was done, I turned my head from side to side to make sure that both sides were even, then stepped back to look at myself in my regular battle outfit. I had changed into black pants that were ripped at the knees and a long sleeve shirt that was green at the base of the body with horizontal green and black stripes on the sleeves. I also wore black combat boots and had two skull shaped clips on both sides of my head to hold my hair out of my face. When I was satisfied that I was ready, I walked over to my bed and picked up two black fingerless gloves and pulled them on, then threw my white hooded cloak over my shoulders. Okay, this was it; I was ready.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the door to my room only to find Derek with his fist in the air like he was about to knock. He had also changed into a pair of baggy jeans, a red t-shirt, and a black leather jacket. Bringing his arm down, he grinned down at my startled form.

"Hey there, princess. If you're done with your primping, there are some people outside that want to wish us luck before we leave."

I glared up at him and counted off three fingers. "One: I wasn't primping. Two: I thought I told you to quit calling me princess. And three: who are these 'people' of which you speak?"

"Go on and see for yourself," he answered while nodding to the door.

I hated when he did that. Why couldn't he just answer my question in the first place? Growling, I shoved my way past him and walked down the hallway to the front door. When I opened it, I found Mason who had also changed a similar outfit as Derek, except he wore a black hooded jacket instead of Derek's leather one. He stood outside talking to no other than our little gang of friends. Maka, Soul, Kid, Liz, Patty, Tsubaki, and Black*Star had all shown up at our doorstep.

"Yo, the midget finally showed up!" Black*Star yelled from the group only to have Tsubaki lightly smack him on the head.

"Hey, Rai!" Maka waved at me from below.

"Hi, guys. What are you doing here?" I asked as I walked down the steps to join them.

"We wanted to wish you luck on your first mission," Tsubaki said sweetly with a smile.

Despite myself, I rolled my eyes. "Thanks, but it's not like this is our first Kishin egg. We've done this plenty of times before."

"Really? I didn't know people could do that outside of the DWMA," Liz added while her sister twirled in circles beside her.

I shrugged and flipped some of my hair over my shoulder. "Yeah, well my mother doesn't look too kindly on them either. They devour countless human souls every day, human souls that my mother works so hard to create. I've been hunting down Kishin eggs for a while now."

"So, then shouldn't Derek and Mason be Death Scythes by now?" Soul asked as he glanced at my partners.

"Haha, I bet she screwed it up and lost all the souls she collected or something," Black*Star mocked which earned him a good punch in the face courtesy of yours truly.

"No you idiot! I've just been fighting Kishin eggs for my mother, not for Lord Death," I explained as he recovered from my blow.

"So then why did you come to the DWMA?" a familiar voice asked. I turned to the source to find Kid's beautiful golden eyes staring into mine with curiosity. I cleared my throat, which made Kid come to the wrong conclusion.

"No, it's not that I'm not happy to see you again. I was just curious!" he backtracked quickly.

I smiled at his gesture. "I knew what you meant, I was just thinking about the right way to say it. I'm guessing that your father hasn't told you yet. Basically, our parents were trying to make up for the mistake that they made."

"Mistake?" Derek asked from the top of the steps as he turned the key to lock up our apartment. After he jiggled the handle for safety measures, he walked down the steps to join us.

"Well, I already told you that I was supposed to be a weapon, Kid's weapon. When it was discovered that I would be a meister, I never visited the DWMA and Kid again because there was really no reason to. The alliance that my mother and Lord Death wanted to form was never going to happen if Kid and I weren't going to be partners. So instead, my mother came up with a new plan. As her daughter and a goddess, I would collect Kishin eggs in Lord Death's name in order to create a Death Scythe for him in the name of Life. As ironic as that sounds, Derek and Mason will really be a symbol of their alliance instead of me and Kid as partners."

"Ah, that makes sense," Soul commented with a nod.

"And it does explain your sudden return," Kid added. "I was so young back then that I never really knew the reason why you never came back," he said, then lowered his eyes and dropped his voice to a whisper. "I thought it was because you didn't like me."

My silver eyes widened at the outrageous thought. "Why the hell would you think anything like that? You were my best friend, Kid. I was hurt too when I didn't get to see you anymore," I ranted.

His head snapped up at the anger in my voice. "So….you weren't bothered by my….symmetry problem?"

I blushed and looked down at my hands as I fiddled around with them. "Actually, I thought it was….cute."

Kid's pale face turned pink at my comment as well. He opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off as I glanced at my watch and realized that we were going to be late for the jet. "Oh just get over here and hug me, you idiot. We have to leave," I said with my arms openly waiting for him, expectantly. Kid closed his gaping mouth with a small smile, then strode forward to hug me tightly.

"Just be safe," he mumbled.

I chuckled in response. "Aren't I always?" As I pulled away from him, I saw his gaze staring at me intensely. "Uh, is something wrong?" I asked.

"No, it's just that…you look very….symmetrical in that outfit."

I blinked once, then grinned widely. I was one of the only people in the world that could understand the truth behind that statement. For Kid, symmetry was the equivalent of beauty, so he had basically called me beautiful in his own special way.

Behind us, Black*Star began of course attempted to ruin the moment. "Kid and Rai sittin in a-,"

"MAKAAAA CHOP!"

"Ow! Hey, what was that for!" I would have to thank Maka later.

"Hey, if you two are done, we gotta leave or we're going to be late," Mason called out from behind us.

I relunctantly turned away from Kid to stand beside him only to find that Kid and I weren't the only couple exchanging heartfelt goodbyes. Standing over on the outskirts of the group was my other partner who was saying farewell to Liz. Judging by her expression, she seemed to be worried about his safety on the mission and Derek was trying his best to comfort her. He had a hands on her shoulders and was speaking in a serious low tone with his face inches away from her's. Without warning, he pulled her into a sudden tight embrace. I stood a few feet away from them awkwardly. I had never seen Derek act this way towards a girl before. Sure he was flirtatious all the time, but with Liz, he seemed to be serious and genuine about his feelings toward her. I smiled slightly; this could only get more ironic if Patty and Mason started to show signs of love.

Not wanting to waste any more time, I walked over to Derek and Liz and yanked on the collar of Derek's leather jacket. "C'mon Romeo, it's time to go. Don't worry, Liz. I'll make sure that he doesn't get into any trouble."

Liz bit her lip slightly, then smiled and nodded, knowing that it was really all I could do. I released Derek's collar as he gave her his signature pretty boy smile and winked. I rolled my eyes, then turned to our friends as we reached Mason's side.

"Well, wish us luck!" I exclaimed as I waved goodbye at them.

"Wait!" Patty exclaimed, running over to us with a tiny stuffed giraffe in her hand. With wide innocent eyes, she held it out to me. "This is Gerald. Take him with you. He'll protect you," she said seriously.

I smiled at the sweet gesture and took the stuffed giraffe from her palm. "Thank you Patty. We'll be sure to bring him back safely with us," I assured her. She smiled widely, then skipped back to Kid's side. Maybe I had underestimated Patty. Although she was quite childish, I'm sure that she balanced out Kid and Liz like Mason, Derek and I balanced out each other.

Putting the giraffe safely in my pocket, I waved goodbye again to our friends as they shouted comforting words to us as we departed.

"Good luck, you guys!"

"Be careful!"

"Hey, don't die on me, midget!" *smack*

"Yeah, kill that Kishin bastard!"

"You guys got this!"

"We'll be watching!"

Turning my back on them, I linked arms with Derek and Mason at my sides with a determined expression. It was us against the Kishin egg, now. We were ready.

**Fight scene is coming up next. Read and review! Any constructive criticism or comments are welcome!**


	11. Killing a Kishin

**Well I guess I couldn't put off writing this fight scene any longer. I'm not very good and writing fight scenes, but I hope you guys like it cuz this chapter took FORVER! It's about twice as long than my normal chapters, so just bear with me.**

"Rai….Rai wake up," a familiar voice gently called out to me.

"Hm, wha-?" I mumbled as I cautiously opened my eyes and squinted against the harsh light. I glanced around my surroundings to find that I was still sitting in one of the plane's leather seats. My head was resting on Mason's shoulder and Derek on my right was passed out with his seat reclined slightly and his head tilted back. I drowsily lifted my head from my partner's shoulder and rubbed my eyes and yawned.

"Sorry about that. I must've dozed off," I apologized as I felt the pins and needles sensation of blood returning to my sleeping limbs.

Mason looked down at me with warm eyes behind the lenses of his glasses. "It's alright. I just thought you'd like to know that we're almost there."

I glanced past Derek's head through the window and noticed the plan making a steady descent out of the sky. "Really? We're there already?"

"Yeah. You and Derek have been out for half of the trip. The pilot just made an announcement a few minutes ago."

I grinned up at him sheepishly. "So you've been the only one awake this whole time. Sorry, I bet that was pretty boring for you."

Mason shrugged in response. "Eh, I took naps off and on. Derek over there has been snoring like a maniac, though. This is one of his quiet phases."

"Well at least we have this plane to ourselves. That was nice of Lord Death," I commented as I glanced over at Mason's brother who currently had a line of drool trailing from the corner of his mouth. The angle of his head looked a little uncomfortable; he was definitely going to be sore later. I thought about waking him up, but with his features slackened with sleep, he looked so innocent and childlike. I giggled softly to myself, thinking about what Liz would say if she could see him now. These are the times when I wish I had a camera.

A monotone voice suddenly cut through the silence of the plane's cabin. "Passengers, we'll be arriving at our destination shortly. Please buckle your seatbelts and prepare for landing. Thank you again for choosing Death City Airlines."

Mason and I followed the pilot's orders and buckled our seatbelts. After loosening the strap slightly to make it more comfortable, my eyes rested over on Derek who was still snoozing the day away. Well, I guess I would have to wake him up now. I put my hand of Derek's blonde head and shook him awake. "C'mon Sleeping Beauty, wakey wakey. We're almost there."

Derek swatted my hand away and curled up on my arm. "Ugh, five more minutes mom."

My face turned into a scowl as I pushed his weight off my arm. "Just get up already. We're going to be landing soon and the pilot said we need to put on our seatbelts."

Derek groaned and opened one eye to look out the window. Noting the rapidly approaching ground, he groggily fumbled to buckle his seatbelt and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "How long have I been out?" he asked.

"Ask him," I answered while pointing my thumb at his brother.

Mason glanced at his watch, then answered, "About four hours now."

Derek smiled. "Ah, and it feels great too. Now I'm rested and totally ready to kick some Kishin ass!" he declared while stretching his arms.

I folded my arms over my chest and smirked. "If you live up to your bragging, we should be fine. But there is such a thing as being overconfident, Derek."

"Why shouldn't I be confident? We're a pretty damn good team together."

"Well I'm not gonna argue with that, but we can never underestimate the enemy. It might someday lead to our defeat."

Derek chuckled to himself, then laced his hands behind his head. "If you wanna be humble, you can have fun with that on your own."

Suddenly, our conversation was cut off by the plane's jerking motions as we got closer to the ground. Ugh, this is why I hated flying. My hand clenched tightly on the edge of my armrest and my teeth grit together. By the time we landed, my jaw hurt from the pressure and my knuckles were white. As I loosened my death grip on the seat, the monotone voice returned over the loudspeaker.

"We have now arrived at our destination. Thank you for choosing Death City Airlines and we hope you enjoy your time in Bolivia."

I blew out a sigh of relief and unbuckled my seatbelt. Standing up from the leather seat, I followed Mason down the plane's aisle past the other few empty seats in the small cabin with Derek trailing behind me. As we reached the door, the pilot greeted us on the way out.

"I hope the trip was okay for you three."

I plastered a grin on my face. "Yeah, thanks for taking us here. This shouldn't take too long, so plan to meet back here before sunset."

The middle aged man nodded his head politely. It's funny how adults' attitudes change towards me when word gets out that I'm a goddess. "Yes ma'am. Good luck on your mission."

I smirked before walking out the door and down the steps with Derek and Mason following closely. "We won't need luck," I mumbled.

_**(a few hours later)**_

__"Are we almost there, Rai? I'm getting all antsy!" Derek complained from the backseat of the taxi we were riding in. The tiny village that the Kishin egg had recently been spotted in was too far a distance to walk, so we had to hail a taxi which was harder than in sounded. Not many Bolivian citizens were willing to go anywhere near the place, even when we offered to pay them handsomely. Luckily, we were able to find a guy who valued money more than his own life.

I rolled my eyes. "Hold on, I'll ask him." Turning to the taxi driver, I switched to Spanish so he would understand me. "Cuánto tiempo, señor?"

The man flinched at the sound of my voice. I noticed that he had grown more and more uneasy the closer we got to our destination. He quickly answered my question. "Estamos casi allí. Cinco minutos más."

"We're almost there. About 5 more minutes," I translated to the boys in the backseat.

"Thank God you can speak Spanish!" Derek exclaimed as he slouched in his seat. I agreed with him; it was pretty useful at times like these. I could also speak seven other basic languages and was studying more. It wasn't really that hard since my mother really created them in the first place.

I fidgeted with my gloved hands in my lap anxiously and stared out the window as we got closer to our destination. My mind raced as I tried to imagine how this mission would happen. What would the Kishin egg be like? What techniques should I use? Will I have to worry about civilians? How long will it take? I bit my lip and tried to empty these confusing thoughts from my mind. I closed my eyes and took deep breaths to relax myself. Why was I getting so pumped up about this Kishin egg? I could do this. I've done it countless times before. Maybe it was the suffocating thought that I was going to be watched during this assignment. Every move I made would be examined closely like a bug under a microscope.

"You okay, Rai?" Mason asked, laying a hand on my shoulder.

I turned in my seat to smile at him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just ready to this party started!" I cheered with fake enthusiasm.

"Well, that time would be know," Derek said as he pointed out the window. "We're here."

The car jerked to a stop as small cluster of houses greeted us, just barely visible over a hill. I turned to the driver to ask him why he stopped the car so suddenly, but froze as I saw his white knuckles clutching the steering wheel. His eyes were wide with fear and his body was visibly shaking as he cowered in his seat.

"No puedo ir más lejos."

I nodded, understanding his fear of this infamous Kishin egg. A human had every right to be terrified of the demonic creatures, which is why the job of taking it out was left to us. We have no room in our souls for fear.

I reached in my pocket, pulled out a couple bills, and handed them to him with a warm smile. "Entiendo. Muchas gracias, señor."

"What's going on?" Derek asked as he watched this exchange.

I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened the car door to get out. "He's too afraid to go any further. We're going to have to walk the rest of the way."

For once, Derek remained quuiet and exited the car with Mason in silence. When it came to missions like these, Derek knew when it was time to be serious. Also, the citizens' terrified reactions to this Kishin egg gave us insight to what we were up against.

As soon as we were out of the car and had closed the door, the driver stepped on the gas and tore ass down the road without looking back.

"Well he sure didn't waste any time, did he?" Mason commented as he shook his head.

I returned my attention to the small village just ahead and adjusted my gloves. "This Kishin egg must be pretty tough if he's causing such a huge local commotion like this. We need to take care of it as fast a posible."

For once, Derek didn't take the opportunity to gloat or brag. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye to find his face smoothed into a serious expression. On my other side, Mason was just as solemn. This was the usual routine: we could boast as much as we wanted on the journey to the mission, but once we arrived, it was all business.

I lifted my white hood over my head confidently as I strode forward and motioned for the boys the follow. "Alright, let's do this."

The short walk to the village felt really quiet since the three of us really had nothing to say, but nothing compared to the deadly silence we experienced once we arrived to our destination.

Our senses were on high alert as our eyes surveyed this sad little abandoned town. Most of the little shacks that qualified as houses here had chunks missing or were left in complete shambles altogether. With my mouth twisted into a frown, I walked over to one of the destroyed houses and kneeled down in the wreckage. Picking through the pieces of wood, I uncovered a little straw doll that was probably a treasured object to a little local girl. I gently picked up the doll and held it to my chest with my eyes closed. This is the destruction of a Kishin, the reason why he had to be killed.

"We were too late for these people," I whispered.

"Rai! You better come check this out!" Derek called out behind me. Opening my eyes, I tenderly put the doll back on the ground and stood up from the wreckage. Turning around, I found Derek kneeling on the ground with Mason standing beside him just like I was doing a few minutes ago, only his discovery seemed much more important. As I walked over to join them, I realzed it was.

A large puddle of fresh blood stained the ground at their feet. The disturbing thing wasn't the puddle, it was the trail that was connected to it. The blood trail led us forward, leading into the largest building that was still standing in the small village. Glancing at the boys, we all nodded in confirmation. That was where the Kishin egg was.

"Alright guys, you know the drill. Be on your guard and don't get distracted. We can do this," I said, almost reassuring myself more than them. Feeling their presence behind my back, I turned to face them and put my hand out for our ritual. With a smile on his face, Derek reached out and placed his hand on top of mine. Mason did the same with his hand on the very top. We exchange glances and took a deep breath.

"I want you guys to promise me one thing," I said seriously. "No matter what happens, I don't want you guys changing into your human forms during the fight until its completely over. I don't want to take any risks with this one."

Thankfully, they chose not to argue and nodded their heads seriously. I guess whether or not they would honor their promise would be determined later.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Our heads shot up as a piercing scream shattered the air.

"Let's go," I said as we raised our joined hands in the air before taking off in the direction of the main building.

As we reached the entrance, I put my hands on the wooden door and paused slightly before pushing it open. What I found was not for the faint of heart.

This man who was once an ordinary human had mutated into a gruesome creature. His legs had transformed into six spindly scorpion appendages. Attatched to his body, a lethal scorpion tail was curled into the air, poised to strike. One of his arms was still human, but the other one was morphed into a giant scorpion claw, and in it at the moment was a small girl. His barely human face twisted into a sickening smile of madness and hunger. Before any of us could even react, the creature threw the injured girl to the ground with his scorpion claw and his tail uncoiled to its full length. The little Bolivian child froze with fear and shock, but then noticed me standing behind her killer. She opened her mouth to whisper her final words of warning.

"Monstruo."

"No!" I screamed, but it was too late. The scorpion tail striked quickly and pierced her chest, pinning her to the ground. Her mouth opened slightly as a trail of blood trickled out and her eyes widened, but went blank quickly as her soul left her body. The delicate little blue sphere hovered over her corpse, but was quickly snatched up and swallowed by the Kishin.

My silver eyes darkened and my hands clenched into tight fists at my side. "Derek. Mason," I growled murderously through clenched teeth.

"Right," they replied in unison as they proceeded to change into their weapon forms. The soft golden glow attracted the attention of the Kishin egg as he stepped away from the girl's dead body.

"Oh, has another soul come for me?" he asked in a gravelly voice with his head tilted in interest at us.

When Derek and Mason had fully transformed, I snatched them out of the air and kept them folded for now.

"How dare you," a whispered. "How dare you think that you can just take away human souls and not pay the price! Did you really think that you could get away with murder?"

The Kishin egg turned to fully face me with a slight smirk on his distorted face. "Oh, are those weapons I see? That must make you a meister. It doesn't matter, though. All souls taste the same and will give me the same amount of power."

"You are a fool. Is power all that you seek?"

"Power is all that I need, all I desire. Do you see what I have become from eating human souls? Just a few more and my transformation will be complete and I will be all powerful!"

I shook my head at his arrogance. "You Kishin eggs disgust me."

The smile disappeared from his ugly face. "That's big talk for a little girl. You're not afraid of me are you? You don't seem to be a regular human. Who are you?" Now it was my turn to smile at him. Taking off my hood and opening Derek and Mason's weapon forms to their full width, I uttered the last words that this Kishin egg would hear.

"I am the bridge between Life and Death, a representative of the DWMA, and a protector of human souls and killer of those who threaten them. I am Rai the Fan Meister, the Goddess of Life. My mother created your soul, but you have decided to use it for evil purposes. Now in the name of Lord Death, I've come to take it back."

"You can try!"

"Rai, watch out!" Mason shouted as the Kishin lunged at me, his scorpion claw open and aimed at my throat. I narrowed my eyes and did a backflip to avoid being crushed. As I landed on my feet, the Kishin struck the gound in the exact spot that I stood just a few seconds ago.

The Kishin's eyes widened when the dust cleared and he realized that he'd missed. "Woah, you're a quick one, but its not like I haven't dealt with those before."

I growled at his attempt to make me angry as I took a fighting stance. "Ready guys?" I asked Derek and Mason.

"Yeah, let' s do it."

"Go!" I shouted as I threw Derek's fan at the overconfident Kishin. His weapon form changed from the fan's semicircle to a full circle as it spun through the air like a frisbee. The sharp outer edge cut through the air, then struck a blow to the Kishin's arm before it doubled back like a boomerang to my waiting hand.

As I jumped up to catch it, I cherished the Kishin suprised yelp as he clutched his bleeding human arm and examined the deep gash that Derek had cut into him. Before he could recover, I threw Mason at him who was able to cause damage to his torso. "I guess I shouldn't have underestimated a student from the DWMA, much less a goddess, if that is true." Without warning, he ran forward on his scorpion legs with suprising speed. "I'll be sure to kill you and eat your soul quickly so you won't cause me any more trouble!"

I ducked as his sharp tail lunged at my head, then swiped at it with Mason's edge. I was able to graze it slightly, but it recoiled before I could cause any real damage. The Kishin swiped at my legs with his claw, but I jumped and landed a punch to his face and felt a satisfying crack of his nose. This Kishin recoiled and roared with fury as he clutched his bleeding face with his only human hand.

"On your left!" Derek warned as the tail returned, but this time the Kishin had learned. Instead of using one devastating blow, he struck with numerous less powerful attacks. I dodged each one quickly, but a particularly quick strike ripped through my shoulder. Gritting my teeth, I focused on the Kishin's movements, wanting toend this fight quickly to minimize injuries.

The creature noticed that I had gone slightly off balance from the blow and hammered his powerful tail down, ready to finish me off. Acting on instinct, I threw up my arms and crossed them in front of me, creating a V with my fans to protect myself. The sharp tip of the tail was stopped just inches away from my face. I grunted as the Kishin put more pressure into the tail, trying to push it forward so it would impale me like the little girl he had killed earlier. I may be a goddess, but my physical strength was my weakness in battle. As I focused all my energy on pushing back his tail, I failed to see his scorpion claw prepared to strike.

"Rai, look out!" Mason cried as his claw short forward and collided with my stomach, sending me flying upward and landing on my back with a grunt. I struggled to get air back in my lungs and stand back on my feet, but his tail had returned and struck from above. Not having enough time to defend myself or even stand up, I threw myself forward into a tuck and roll, just barely dodging the attack. Before I could make another move, the Kishin snuck up behind me, striking another blow to my back and sending me flying until I hit the wall and collapsed.

"Rai!" Derek and Mason cried, as their weapon forms started to glow a faint gold.

"Don't you dare change back!" I growled as I got to my hands and knees, wiping a trail of blood from my mouth. "Remember your promise."

"But-"

"Don't argue with me, Mason. You're not the meister here," I said as I got to my feet and returned my attention back to the Kishin who was watching our exchange with amusement.

"You know, every minute that goes by, you just seem to be getting more and more appetizing. I think I'll finish you now, little girl," he declared as he rushed forward again. I examined the way he moved over my shoulder as I retreated, trying to find some weak points.

"We have to throw him off balance somehow," I muttered.

"Aim for his legs!" Derek urged, his face reflecting on the fan's surface. Glancing back at the Kishin on my heels, I realized that Derek was right. His tiny scorpion legs would barely be able to support his large body if I took a few of them out.

"Got it," I said as I skidded to a halt and turned around to face him. I took an offensive stance and watched the Kishin get closer, his eyes hungry for blood and death. My instincts screamed at me to run, but I would have to wait for the right time to strike if I wanted this attack to cause any damage. I remained motionless as the Kishin drew closer and closer and my muscles tensed with anticipation. When he raised his arms to strike, I saw my opening and attacked.

"NOW!" I yelled as I coiled my arms and flung Derek and Mason in the air towards the enemy in a straight shot. They flew low to the ground and connected with two of his legs, completely severing them. The monster screamed and thrashed as my weapons returned to me, landing safely in my hands.

The Kishin staggered forward, still intent on killing me, even with the two missing legs. "That's ….the last….straw….little girl! You….will….die!" he choked out as wobbled on his remaining legs.

"I don't think so. It's time to end this. Derek, Mason, you know what to do," I told them.

"Right!" they replied.

"LET'S GO SOUL RESONANCE!" we cried in unison as our souls connected and expanded around us. I closed my eyes and my hair wipped around my face as I felt the power of our souls linking and morphing Derk and Mason's weapon forms. The fans glowed brightly as they grew larger and their edges became lined with sharp daimond tips. Opening my eyes, I prepared for my last attack.

"Prepare to die, Kishin. Technique of the Fan Meister," I screamed as I threw Derek and Mason at opposite ends of the Kishin. They cornered him, then met in the middle as they cut deeply into his chest, finishing him off and carving a bloody X into his body.

"Death X," I muttered as I crossed my arms over each other and caught Derek and Mason as they reverted back to their original weapon forms. The Kishin gurgled slightly, then his body dissolved completely, leaving only his red evil soul.

I smiled as I collapsed to the floor from exhaustion. "It's over now. We did it." As soon as the words left my mouth, the fans in my hand glowed faintly and transformed back into the boys' human forms.

"Derek, you go ahead and take this one since I got it last time," Mason said as he knelt down beside me and put a hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a few cuts and bruises. I'll be fine," I reassured him as I examined my stained cloak and injured shoulder.

"Those were some nice moves today, Rai. But you were right about being too overconfident. This one was a little tricky, wasn't he?" Derek chuckled as he snatched the red soul out of the air and swallowed it greedily.

"Mhmm," I mumbled as Mason helped me to my feet. "But we did a good job."

Mason nodded at my side. "Well, we should probably get back to the plane and have your shoulder checked out."

"And we need to see if everybody enjoyed the show," Derek added with a smirk.

I smiled, thinking about our friends waiting for us back at the DWMA. "Yeah, let's go home."

**Leave me comments and reviews and tell me what you think! Thanks guys!**


	12. Poison

"Ow, quit it Derek!" I yelled as my stupid partner curiously tried to lift my cloak so he could get a good look at my shoulder.

"Geez, I just want to look at it, Rai. We need to make sure it's not too serious."

"It's fine," I assured him, sighing heavily. I didn't want to put too much emphasis on the wound I took to my shoulder during the battle with the Kishin. I didn't want to remind everybody that I slipped up, made a mistake. I didn't get a good look at it, but it was probably just a scratch. And now as I was sitting on one of the beds in the DWMA infirmary that Derek and Mason made me go to, everything seemed to get on my nerves. I didn't even want to mention the dull ache in my shoulder, or else they would definitely freak out. It really wasn't that bad, I just wanted to grab some Advil at home and go to bed.

"Look, I'm tired from the mission, guys. Can't we just go home?" I whined as I attempted to jump down from the bed. Before I could do so, Mason put a hand on my good shoulder to keep me in place.

"Please have Nygus just take a quick look at it. For us," Mason urged with a concerned glance from behind his glasses.

"But I already told you, I'm fi-"

"Rai!" a voice cried from the doorway of the infirmary. We turned to see Maka standing in the doorway, panting heavily with Soul standing behind her. "We just heard that you got back! Are you okay?" she asked, running forward, slightly frightened with the sight of blood all over my cloak.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm fine, Maka. I shouldn't even be here, but these two idiots think that they're future doctors or something."

Derek crossed his arms over his chest, unimpressed with my attitude. "Is it really so bad that we worry about you? I'm sorry if this is so inconvenient for you, but we're only doing this because we care."

I lowered my eyes while a slight feeling of guilt stabbed my pride. "I know that," I said, lowering my voice slightly. "I'm sorry, I guess I'm just tired." Why was I acting like this? I didn't usually treat my friends so badly.

"YAHOO!" called Black*Star, charging in with Kid and Liz. For once, I was actually grateful for Black*star's voice breaking the awkward silence. "That was an interesting show you put on, Rai. I guess I underestimated you guys," he said as he walked over to high-five a congratulations to Mason. Derek, on the other hand, walked to stand next to Liz while they chatted happily together. Liz met him halfway and hugged him tightly like she hadn't seen him in ages. He smiled and hugged her back, well aware that she had been worrying about him.

"Rai?" Kid said as he walked to stand next to the bed I was sitting on. "Are you hurt?" he asked as he examined the stain on my cloak.

"Naw. Nothing too serious," I said a little more gently than I had with anybody else.

Kid's golden eyes still seemed troubled, but he accepted my confirmation for the moment as he hauled himself up to sit next to me on the bed. "You were amazing fighting that Kishin, Rai. I've never seen that much symmetry incorporated in a fighting style."

"Except for yourself, right?" I asked with a smile.

"Well, I try anyways," he replied with a shrug, "but it all seems so effortless to you. It really was beautiful."

I bit my lip to hide my smile from getting suspiciously bigger. I could never tell him that ever since we had met, I monitored every move I made, trying to make it as symmetrical as possible. I liked Kid so much even when we were children, that I didn't want to make myself unappealing to him. If symmetry was what he wanted, then that was what I wanted to give him. Now that I'd been doing it for so long, it came almost naturally. I didn't even think about it when I chose my weapons or fought. I guess it was just a force of habit now.

"I'm glad you liked me….uh, I mean IT!," I said, my face turning red and anxious to change the subject. "So, was your father impressed?" I asked, looking down at my fiddling hands.

Kid nodded enthusiastically."He says you have a lot of potential as a miester and he thinks that you and I should do a mission together. If we combined our forces, we could take down anyone," he said excitedly. It was so cute watching him get pumped up about assignments. It seemed almost too perfect to be real. When I was a kid, I used to daydream all the time about what it would be like to be a student at the DWMA with Kid, and this was better than I had pictured it. As I glanced around the room at Mason describing the battle in detail to Maka, Soul, and Black*Star and Derek with his hand around Liz's shoulders, adding a few details here and there, I leaned back against the wall connecting to the bed and thought about how good I had it.

"Well, I certainly don't remember hearing about this many sick students," Nygus said as she entered the room with a clipboard in one hand and her other hand on her hip.

"We're all fine, Nygus," Soul explained, "Just hear to check up on Rai."

Nygus' eyes scanned the room until she found me sitting on the bed. "Ah, yes. I hear you just finished your first mission. And it was quite a show from what I gather," she said as she walked forward, then noticed the red stain on my white cloak. "Were you injured?" she asked.

"Not too badly. I think it's just a scratch."

"Well better to be safe than sorry. Why don't you go ahead and take off your cloak so we can take a look?"

Okay, here came the moment of truth. I gritted my teeth as I slid off the bed. Suddenly, as my feet met the ground, the dull ache in my shoulder erupted, sending waves of new pain coursing through my body. I screamed, clutching my shoulder and sinking to the ground.

"Rai!" somebody shouted. I saw shadows moving around me, but my vision was blocked by exploding stars from the agony.

"Somebody take off her cloak!" a female voice commanded. I felt cool hands touch my skin, but they were beat away by my limbs thrashing on their own free will from the pain. "Hold her down!" somebody yelled. As my arms and legs were pushed to the ground by the weight of their bodies, I could feel the pain spreading from my shoulder to my arms like a liquid. My screams became louder as my entire body was tormented with a sensation like a thousand knives stabbing me repeatedly.

"Somebody help me! Make it stop! It hurts! It hurts!" I cried as sweat collected on my forehead and my body thrashed against their iron grip. My cloak was suddenly cut from my shoulders and the air left the room.

"Oh my God."

**O_o So what do you think is wrong with Rai? I haven't been getting much feedback from the latest chapters, so please review or even send me a message. I really appreciate it!**


	13. I'm Not Fine

**OMG! I want to thank you guys so much for your comments and reviews. I got so much feedback from the last chaper that I got my confidence back and just had to thank you all with a new chapter really fast, so here ya go!**

"Rai, can you hear me? I need you to open your eyes if you can.

_Huh? Who's talking to me and when did I fall asleep? All I remember is….pain._ My eyes flew open and I braced myself for the wave of pain that I remember feeling, but nothing happened. I cautiously moved my fingers, then my whole arm when I was confident that nothing was going to happen. Meanwhile, Nygus stood patiently while I expiremented with different movements and got adjusted to waking up. I glanced over at her hovering at the foot of the hospital bed that I was lying on.

"What happened to me?"

I couldn't tell Nygus' expression from under her bandages, but her eyes did not seem optimistic. "I just need to run a few more tests to be sure, Rai. In the meantime, are you feeling up to having a visitor?"

I nodded enthusiastically. Anything that would make this day seem normal sounded perfect to me. With a nod, Nygus left the room and left the door open so that my visitor could come in, and it turned out to be just who I wanted to see.

"Kid!" I cried, sitting up in my bed. My muscles were a bit stiff, but I could hardly feel it now that he was here.

Kid walked to the foot of my bed and looked at me sadly. "Hello, Rai."

I narrowed my eyes slightly at him; why was he acting so weird? "Um, where are Derek and Mason?"

"They're just getting something to eat. Don't worry, they haven't left your side since you passed out."

"Passed out?" I didn't remember doing that. Ugh, how embarrassing!

Kid shifted from foot to foot, looking anxious to change the subject. "So, how are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling a lot better, thanks. What about you?"

Kid's golden eyes widened with confusion. "Excuse me?"

I patted the spot beside me on the bed and scooted over, signalling him to sit next to me. He obliged, but hesitated, glancing at my bandaged shoulder before sitting down. "What's with you, Kid? It's not like I'm dead or anything. Look at me, I'm fine."

"No you're not," he whispered, looking down and not meeting my gaze.

I blinked and stared at him bewilderment. "What do you mean?"

Kid still wouldn't look me in the eye and I saw a shiver go up his spine. "The way you were screaming and thrashing in pain…and I couldn't do anything to help you. You were so pale and limp and….fragile. And you didn't even see how your shoulder looked. It was so….awful. I never….want to see you like that again," he said slowly as if he were struggling to find the words.

"What?" I asked as I tried to look at the wound. It seemed that they were in a hurry to patch it up because the sleeve had been sloppily cut off from my shirt and bandages encased my entire shoulder, blocking the injury from my sight. "Was it really that bad?"

Kid nodded, not saying anything. Ugh, I needed to do something to cheer him up somehow. But what? What makes him happy no matter what? I perked up as I thought of just the thing. Running my fingers through my hair, I slid out one of the skull clips that had stayed in from my mission uniform. Hiding it in my fist, I discreetly hid it under the sheets, then covered it and pretended to look for it.

"Oh, here it is!" I said dramatically as I lifted up the sheets to reveal the clip laying underneath. "I've been looking for it everywhere!" As I picked it up, I glanced over at Kid to be sure that he saw the whole event. When I was satisfied that he did, I held it out to him. "Could you put it back in for me? I can never get it as symmetrical to the other side as you can?"

Kid's face softened a little as he stared at the clip, then complete concentration overtook his expression as he accepted the clip. I turned to fully face him as he wove my wavy orange locks through his fingers, then gathered a chunk and slid the clip into place. When he was finished, he carefully glanced at both sides, then nodded in satisfaction. "There, its perfect."

While he did seem less grumpy, he still wasn't fully himself yet. I sighed as I lifted his chin with my hand so that he would look at me. "Listen, its all over now. I feel fine. Remember that I'm not a human either, so I'll heal quickly and we can go on like this never even happened. Okay?"

Kid didn't look entirely convinced by my overly-optimistic fantasy, but I saw a small smile tug on his lips. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, Nygus walked back in the room with her clipboard. I quickly removed my hand from Kid's face and straightened up. "So, uh, what's the diagnosis?"

I expected to hear that I would be fine if I just got some rest or that she would give me some pills or something that would make me better, but she stayed still and silent.

"Nygus?" I asked, beginning to worry.

Her head snapped up like she just remembered that I was there. Then I heard reluctant words escape her mouth."The injury you took from that Kishin was worse than we had originally feared."

Kid stiffened beside me while I took a deep breath, trying to remain calm. "How bad is it?"

"Well, the actual injury itself is not the problem. I was able to assess the situation from what your weapons told me and the test results verified what I fear the real issue is."

I tilted my head to the side, curiously, and folded my hands in my lap, preparing for the worst. "Okay, what is it?"

Nygus walked around to the other side of my bed and stood there, unsure of how to relay the news."The Kishin you were fighting was part scorpion, which means he had all the physical characteristics and capabilities of a real scorpion. That includes the venom inside of his tail with which he uses to kill his prey."

My silver eyes widened in realization. "So….that means…"

Nygus didn't say anything, but lifted her hands to the bandages on my shoulder and worked at them with her fingers. Kid's mouth opened in protest, but Nygus silenced him with a look. When he realized that I was going to see what was wrong with me, his eyes told me he was debating whether or not to look away. When the bandages were loosened up, she slid them off of my shoulder to reveal…nothing at all. My shoulder was perfect, not a scratch on it, but apparently that wasn't good news.

"Because you are not human, you were able to heal fast just like Kid. Technically, you're wound healed perfectly, but that's not the issue. That just means that the poison from the wound is now inside your bloodstream. And its going to spread fast."

Moments passed, seeming to stretch on forever. I was...dying? But I wasn't even old enough to have a driver's license or have my first kiss or grow to finally be five feet tall. I still had so much left to do. I couldn't be...dying! I had too uch responsibility here; who was going to take over for my mother if I died? I felt like screaming, but chose to stay quiet as they both awaited a reaction from me.

Finally Kid spoke up for me to break the silence. "Is there a cure?"

"Well, it would be almost impossible to-"

"Is there a cure?" he repeated more firmly from behind clenched teeth.

Nygus hesitated, then nodded slowly in response.

"Then that's where I'm going," he said simply, standing up from the hospital bed and walking towards the door.

"Wait!" I cried as I shoved off the sheets and slid down from the bed to join him. "I'm coming too."

"Rai, I don't know if that's such a-"

"No, you listen to me, Death the Kid. If this cure is for me, then I can't just sit here while you go and get it for me. I'm not some damsel in distress that needs everybody to save her. Besides, if you don't make it in time, I don't wantwant my last few days to be sitting depressed in some hospital bed. I want them to be an adventure. I want them to be with you."

Kid gaped at my last statement, then smiled and took my hand in his. And then he did the same to my other hand for symmetry. "I wouldn't have it any other way either."

Woah. This was the first time we had actually verbally stated our feelings for each other. It had always been sideways glances or implied statements, but this was definitely the real deal. Ironic timing, though.

Kid seemed to be thinking the same thing as he squeezed my hands and said "Alright then, let's go have our adventure."

**Hope you liked it! Tell me what you think! :D**


	14. Perfect Balance

**Cute chapter. Lot's of friendly fluff! :D**

"No."

"But Derek-"

"No."

"But I just-"

"Rai, I'm not talking about this anymore. No means no."

I scowled and glared at my partner as he was still trying to process the information that venom was now coursing through my bloodstream and was eventually going to kill me. He and Mason were both back at our apartment and in my room. I wanted to make this as painless as possible, but that obviously wasn't going to happen. I broke the news with Derek leaning up against the wall, Mason sitting on my desk-chair, and me sitting crosslegged on my bed. As if telling them of the venom wasn't enough, I also had to convince them to come with me on a mission with Kid to find the anti-venom that might cure me. Derek was being less than cooperative.

"You know, this cure is going to save my life," I reminded him while fiddling with a strand of my hair.

As Derek closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and his pointerfinger in frustration, Mason spoke up for the first time, obviously on Derek's side. "He's not saying that he doesn't want to find the cure, Rai. He just doesn't think that it's a good idea for you to strain yourself if your body is dying. Who knows what that venom could to you if you put too much pressure on yourself with your condition?"

"And who knows what will happen if I don't? I already told you, I'm not going to let Kid go this alone."

"Even if it means that you'll die in the process? Then everything that Kid does will be for nothing," Derek replied, opening his eyes and looking at me critically. I knew that he was changing tactics, trying to make me see reason by bringing Kid into the argument.

I took a deep breath and tried to match his technique. "Liz is coming too, you know…" I added nonchalantly, hoping for him to give in, but Derek did not react like I expected. He straightened up out of his slouching position, turned around so that he would face the wall, and slammed the side of his fist into it, causing me to jump. I cowered slightly as I glanced at Mason, who met my gaze and also seemed concerned by his brother's out of character attitude.

"Why the hell would you say that, Rai?" Derek growled as he slowly turned around to face me with his hair creating a shadow over his eyes. I stayed completely frozen as he walked forward and stopped at the edge of my bed. "Liz isn't the one who is dying here. Sure, I like Liz and as far as girls go, I seem to have the best connection with her, but you are my meister. Right now, my responsibility is to you and you alone."

I bowed my head as his words drowned me in guilt. How could I even think that I could distract him with girls? By doing that, I was really committing the ulimate crime by questioning his loyalty as a weapon. "I-I'm sorry Derek. I didn't mean-"

"It's okay. You don't have to say it," he interrupted, lifting his head so that his brown eyes were showing again.

I still felt guilty, but I wasn't going to give up on my side of the argument. "I just want to be a part of the journey that decides whether I live or die. That's all. If these might be my last few days, then I want to go on an adventure, not sit in a sick bed."

Derek sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "And the fact that Kid is going doesn't influence your decision at all?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well….I….uh…" I stuttered, my cheeks turning red.

"You really like him, don't you?" Derek said, observing my behaviour. "Not just that. You love him."My mouth opened and closed like a fish and face grew even hotter, but I bowed my head and nodded meekly.

"I always knew this day would come!" Derek proclaimed dramatically while putting a hand over his heart. I smiled as I noticed him gradually returning to his old self. "Don't get too comfortable Rai," he said while putting a finger up. "I'm still not quite sure how I feel about this yet."

"Well, I just don't want to go without you and Mason. This might just be our last mission together." Derek hesitated slightly, not knowing how to respond. I smiled, knowing that I was gaining an advantage. "And don't you have a responsibility to protect your meister? What if there's trouble and I need you?"

Derek's shoulders sagged as he turned to his brother who was still sitting in the chair, watching our exchange with interest. "I give up. It's your call, dude."

Mason closed his eyes and straightened his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "I'm in. If we get the anti-venom, then we all go home happy. Even if we don't make it in time, at least Rai will have one last kick-ass adventure," he stated, looking at me with a grin.

Yep, these were definitely the partners I signed up for. The boys I could count on, through thick and thin. The boys that would look out for me and put me in my place when I was being stupid. How did Kid put it again? Oh yeah. Perfect Balance.

Sliding off the bed, I walked forward to stand in between my bed where Derek was standing, and the desk where Mason was sitting. Iput my hand out in front of me with my palm flat and facing the floor and met my parnters' curious gazes expectantly. Derek smiled and stood next to me while putting his hand over mine and Mason stood up from the chair to put his hand on the very top.

"Alrighty then, let's do this thing. If this is our last mission, then at least I'll go out with a bang." Without warning, I released my hand and threw my arms around my partners,tackling them to the ground.

"Hey! What was that for?" Derek whined.

"That, my good friend, is called a glomp. It's how I show affection."

"Couldn't you just hug us normally?" Mason questioned as he groaned painfully at the bottom of the dogpile.

I snorted. "Since when have I known to do things normally?"

"Point taken."

**Hope you like the chapter. Review and leave commets. OH, and as a side note, I've started another assignment that I need help with. I've decided to work on another story in which the original Soul Eater cast is mentoring the new freshmen in a new school year. However, the new freshmen are going to be OCs submitted by you guys! If you are interested in submitting an OC for me to choose from, go to the fanfic titled "OC Challenge" and fill out the submission form AFTER you have read all the updates I have put in the 3 chapters. Have fun and be creative!**


	15. Never Easy

"So, how did it go?" Kid asked curiously as we walked down the hallway of the DWMA towards Stein's lab. Kid and I had agreed to meet with the crazy proffesor so he could give us a debriefing of the assignment at the same time, which we would then pass on to our weapons on the way. Since we were short on time, this seemed to be the easiest course of action.

I shrugged in response to Kid's question. "Some words were….exchanged, but we came to an overall decision. They knew that I wasn't the type to sit around and act like a helpless little girl."

"Hm, well they seem to know you pretty well, then."

"Yeah, we've gotten pretty close over the years. I couldn't have asked for better partners," I replied with a slight smile as we rounded a corner.

"So which part were they unhappy about? The fact that you want o go on some crazy adventure that might just leave you on your deathbed, or the fact that you're doing it with me?"

I pushed my bangs out of my face as I thought of my reply. "A little bit of both, I guess. Mason doesn't have a problem with you, but Derek….just needs some time to get used to the idea."

Kid chuckled at my side. "Are they your partners or older brothers?"

"Sometimes its hard to tell the difference."

We continued down the maze of hallways and rounded our last corner, almost to our destination. "So, Kid. Who knew that during the mission that we would finally get to do together, one of us would be terminal?"

Kid stopped in his tracks and looked at me critically with his piercing gold eyes. "We _will_ make it in time, Rai. I don't like hearing you talk like this."

The smile disappeared from my face as I lowered my gaze to the floor. "Nothing in this world is certain, Kid. Just remember that," I muttered as I continued walking down the hallway and opened the last door on the right before Kid had time to respond.

Inside the room, Stein turned his head to greet us as we entered. "Ah, there you are. I was wondering when you two were going to show up," Stein said as he rolled his computer chair in our direction. Geez, I never liked doctors, but this guy creeped me out to no end, but I still tried to be polite.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Professor. So, what did you need to speak with us about?"

"The location of your anti-venom, of course. What else?"

"Now wait just a minute," Kid said, folding his arms across his chest. "My father told me that nobody knows exactly where this anti-venom is. He said that it is so rare, that it may even be possible that it doesn't exist." The last sentence he said came out before he could stop it or even realize that he was saying it. With regretful eyes, he turned to me to apologize. "Rai, I didn't mean-"

"It's okay, Kid. I'm well aware that the odds aren't in my favor."

Stein impatiently began lighting a cigarette, waiting for his chance to speak again. When gave him a nod, he pushed up his glasses on his nose with his middle finger and continued. "Kid is right. The anti-venom required to cure you may not exist at all. However, if it does, there is one person who will know. He is actually an old colleague of mine. I believe he currently resides in Australia; his name is Damien Archer."

Kid perked up at the name. "Ah yes, I believe I remember my father mentioning him once or twice."

Stein nodded and the light from his computer reflected off of his glasses. "That would not surprise me. After all, the man is a genious. He was once a great meister, but after he made his weapon into a death scythe, his partner left him. Even with no partner, he was still devoted to Lord Death's cause, so he took up a different occupation. Now he specializes in Kishin biology. I would be surprised if there is a species of Kishin out there that he hasn't studied. Most of their chracteristics repeat themselves depending on the person, so he's been able to do extensive research on the entire Kishin population.

I began putting the pieces together in my head. "So, you think that he might have the anti-venom that can cure me?"

"If he doesn't personally have it, then I can assure you that he will at least know how to find it."

Kid nodded firmly and I knew that he was glad that we now had a solid lead. Something definite to grasp that would bring us closer to getting me cured. I however, was still skeptical.

"But, Proffesor? How could he possibly know what type of anti-venom to use? What if there are multiple species of the scorpion Kishin out there. And since I healed so fast, there's no evidence that we could show him that could help him figure it out. I don't even look injured."

Stein's eyes drifted over to my shoulder and a knowing expression overtook his face.

"Check again."

My heart stopped in my chest as I hastily yanked up the sleeve of my shirt to see what he was talking about. It turned out, the venom did have long term effects after all. The skin on my shoulder had grown swollen and red like I was having some sort of allergic reaction. I reached one of my fingers up to touch it gingerly, and cringed when got a throbbing response. The skin had grown dry and brittle like a sunburn and now that I was aware of it, it itched like hell. Kid came over to get a closer look, then stiffened at the sight of my shoulder.

"Is this as bad as before?" I asked while glancing at him curiously.

"No," Kid replied with a clenched jaw. "This is nothing compared to that."

I decided not to push him any further and gently rolled the sleeve of my shirt back down. "It looks like it's spreading. The wound on my shoulder was up higher and this….reaction is almost halfway down my bicep.

Stein nodded in confirmation. "That is to be expected. It will soon spread to cover your entire body. It's basically signalling how far the venom has spread through your bloodstream. You must find the cure before the rash gets to your chest and the venom reaches your heart. When that happens, its all over. Do you understand?"

We both nodded grimly as I reached up a hand unconsciously to my shoulder and ignored the dull throbbing that resulted from the contact.

"Alright then. I will give Lord Death the coordinates to Damien Archer's lab in Australia and he'll have a jet ready to take you there by this evening. I suggest that you go prepare for the trip."

"Thank you for your help, Proffesor Stein," I said with an honest nod as Kid and I turned to leave.

"Good luck," he called as we closed the door to his lab and began making our way back to our homes to pack. I decided not to tell Derek and Mason about this reaction to the venom my body was having. It might influence their decision and they would probably find out soon enough when it spread to more obvious places.

"With luck, this will all be over soon," he mumbled to himself as he stopped in his tracks to fix a random painting on the wall. As he adjusted it slightly, he said,"With the speed of my father's jet, it probably won't even take a full day," in a hopeful, yet unrealistic tone.

I put my hands on my hips and shook my head and disbelief as I chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Kid asked, raising an eyebrow and turning to me now that he had finished fixing the painting.

"Oh nothing," I said, waving a hand nonchalantly. "Your optimism is just cute."

He smiled as stared at my hand, then slowly reached out to take it in his. We continued walking down the hallway as if nothing had happened, with our fingers laced together. "You know, hoping for the best isn't exactly a bad thing, Rai."

"I know. But the things we want are never easy."

**Aw, aren't they cute! :3**

**So please review and/or leave comments telling me what you think. I'm kinda getting back into the zone of writing this thing, so I hope the rest will go smoothly. Also, if you want to send in an OC for my other OC Challenge story, the deadline is in 3 days so please hurry! There is a description of the type of characters I need in chapter 4. Thanks for all your support, guys! :D**


	16. Update!

**Okay guys, I hate to say this, but I think I'm gonna have to take a break with this story. Honestly, all my creativity is being put into my other story Something Old, Something New….so I have officially run out of ideas about where this story is going to go. I feel like the characters aren't being written very well and I just don't know what to do with this plot anymore.**

**Anyway, if you really want this story to continue, then bear with me while I take a breather or you could even help me out by sending in some ideas for the plot. At this point, I could use ANYTHING! Even if it's horrible, it just might spark something. I'm growing desperate here, so please help me out!**

**Thanks to all my faithful readers; I really appreciate your support! In the meantime, please feel free to check out my new story called Something Old, Something New. I hope you enjoy it!**


	17. So Close

"Alright, this seems to be the place," I said as I glanced down at the piece of paper in my palm for confirmation. No doubt, the address was the same on this sign in front of me, so Damien Archer had to be here. We had made the trip all the way down to Australia just to meet this one person who could save my life, so if he wasn't here, it would be disappointing to say the least. The slip of paper made a crinkling sound as it was crushed into my clenched fist. If this didn't work, it was doubtful that there would be any other options. He had to be here.

"Rai, are you okay?" Kid said as he placed a hand on my good shoulder.

My hand relaxed instantly. "Yeah, I'm fine," I assured him as I waved my hand in front of my face dramatically. "It's just so hot out here."

"Oh, sorry about that!"

"Shut up, Derek."

"Roger."

"Hey sis, do you think this guy will have any ice cream? Patty screams for ice cream!" Patty shouted as she twirled in place gleefully.

"Uh, I don't know about that, Patty. This guy studies Kishin eggs, not frozen dairy treats."

"I'm in the mood for something cool, too. They don't kid around when they say that Australia is down under," Mason commented as he tugged at the collar of his shirt and wiped his forehead.

The heat was definitely getting to all of us, but it was making me extremely uncomfortable with these stupid bandages. During the trip over here, the rash had spread all the way down to my elbow and was making steady continuous progress further down my arm. Some of it was also starting to make it's way over to my side close to my ribcage. The bandages were starting to make me sweaty and the rash itched like a bitch and the small grass that grew on the path and tickled my legs wasn't really helping either. And to top it all off, the deafening sound of chirping cicadas was driving me up the wall, but hopefully it would all be over soon.

"Well, shall we see if Mr. Archer is available?" Kid asked while putting his hand over his golden eyes to shade them as he glanced down the rocky path in front of us.

"This rash isn't getting any smaller! Let's go," I said boldly as I put the slip of paper into my pocket and marched forward.

"Rai, would you mind waiting for a moment?" Kid asked as the rest of the group stopped behind us, looking at each other and wondering what was happening. Derek looked at me with a knowing glance and waved them forward, leaving us behind and giving us some space. I gave him a quick 'thank you' nod before turning back to face the expectant shinigami, but kept refused to look him in the eye; I knew what he was going to say.

"What is it?" I asked innocently.

"I want to talk to you about something."

"Okay, shoot."

"Why are you treating this like it's a joke?"

I straightened up slightly at his question, a bit shaken since I was expecting his to scold me or something. I didn't actually think that he would as a question like that. "I….I'm not."

His eyes looked into mine with a seriousness that I'd never seen before on his face. "Rai, I just want you to take this seriously. You do know that your life is in danger, don't you? Aren't you scared about that? I just don't understand how you can make jokes about this and act so nonchalantly. A lot of people really care about you and I don't…..I don't think I'll be able to find another girl like you."

I stopped in my tracks and my silver eyes widened. Was he actually confessing feelings to me? Here and now? What was I supposed to say back to him? "Kid, I know exactly what's at stake here and I am taking this seriously. But…..if this is my last mission, I don't want everybody to be stressed out and worried about me. I was just trying to reassure everybody that I'm okay." Geez what a stupid response.

"But you're not okay!" Kid shouted as he threw his hands up in the air in frustration. "You're dying, Rai! In only a day or two, you could be dead and that would be the end of it! Do you know how this makes me feel?" he continued as he slouched to the ground in defeat. "I'm the son of Death. I'm supposed to be able to keep balance and help people…and I can't even…I can't even…I just…" he trailed off, losing words to explain what he was feeling. His sriped hair covered his eyes, hiding his expression.

I stood there, completely frozen in shock at his actions. I knew that Kid was taking this pretty hard, but I didn't know that he had all these emotions built up inside of him like this. I didn't know that he was hurting this bad. Getting on my knees, I put my hands on his shoulders. "Kid, look at me. Right now, I'm okay, but it's only going to get worse from here on out. I'm just making the best with what I have now, and you should too."

"But how can you be so positive about this? You're the one who's dying."

"That's right. I'm the one who's dying, so let me worry about it. This situation is out of our control, so I'm just going with the flow. My time will come when it's meant to come and there's no use trying to fight fate. Now come here," I said as I brought him into a hug.

"I….I don't want you to die,"Kid mumbled into my shoulder.

"Then help us. Focus on what we can do here an now. That's what's important."

Kid pulled back and looked at my face. "But aren't you scared?"

"I'm terrified."

"Then why don't you show it?"

"If it looks like I don't have hope, then how will I excpect everybody else to?"

Kid blinked then broke into a smile. "Right."

"Now are we done with this pity party because we're about to get left behind by the others," I said as I glanced nervously at our retreating group.

Kid laughed, then helped me stand up as he said, "Yes. We should stop wasting time, shouldn't we?"

As we jogged back to reach the others, I felt Kid's hand slowly slip into mine, causing my heartbeat to quicken slightly. Kid really did care about me; I dreamt about moments like these ever since I was little. I couldn't die now when it was finally happening. My eyes flashed with determination as we caught up with the group just as we reached a small hut at the end of the path.

We stopped walking, glancing to one another, not quite sure what to do. Finally, Kid let go of my hand and walked to the front of the door to knock. Almost immediately, a man flung open the door and stared at us with crazed green eyes and a cigarette shoved in his mouth. "What do you want?" he spat as he leaned against the door frame.

Liz cowered slightly behind Derek at this man's threatening presence and Patty was as clueless as ever, but Kid wasn't fazed by this man as he calmly said, "Sir, we're looking for a man named Damien Archer. We were hoping that he could help us."

The man crossed his muscled arms over his chest with a skeptical expression. "Well Damien Archer happens to be my name, but what makes you think think that I would want to help a bunch of little kids?" he said as he scratched his stubbled chin.

"What was that?" I growled as I took a step forward, but was blocked from going any further by Mason's arm.

Kid still tried to remain calm and expressionless. "We are students of the DWMA. We were sent here by Dr. Franken Stein and-"

"Oh, good old Franken huh?" Damien said as his face broke into a smile which made his face look instantly younger especially with his curly black hair. "I always did admire that man; such a nice guy with a love for science. Oh how we made so many discoveries together. He's a great man! And he always was able to find the best pack of smokes! " he laughed as he ranted reminescently. "So he sent you to me, did he? Well come on in and we can chat about this, then. Any friend of Franken's is a friend of mine!" he said as he ushered us inside.

We looked at each other, surprised by this guy's bipolar attitude, then nodded as we entered his small house. The first thing I noticed was the temperate change which went from blazing hot to a nice cool atmosphere. The second thing I noticed was the decour. Yep, this guy had to be a friend of Professor Stein's. The house functioned more like a lab than anything. Books and lab notebooks were carelessly thrown all over the small area and a large dissection tray took up most of the space along with some stools by a desk. Jars were everywhere containing multiple body parts and other samples. I shuddered as I passed by a jar with an eye inside; I swear to god it blinked at me!

"Ew!" Liz squealed at a hand floating around in another jar. "How can you stand to have all this around you? It's so gross!"

Damien laughed heartily. "It's all in the name of science! That's all that matters!"

"You must be dedicated to your work," Mason commented as he examined one of his lab notebooks lying on the dissection tray with interest.

"I do my best," Damien said as he rubbed the back of his head and extinguished he cigarette in his mouth. "It's all for the greater good after all."

When we all had crammed inside Damien's place, he shut the door and rubbed his hands together. "So, what can I do for you?"

I stepped forward, trying to appear confident when I was actually severely creeped out. "Um, we understand that you study Kishins, Mr. Archer."

Damien eyes narrowed as he tried to connect the dots that weren't there yet. "And?" he prodded.

"Well, I had an unlucky run-in with one and I'm in some trouble," I explained gesturing to the bandages on my arm. Damien nodded, then went to sit down on one of the stools at his desk and motioned for me to take the other one. I hesitated, but reminded myself that he was a scientist and that I had every reason to trust him.

"May I take a look?" he asked as he glanced to my arm, awaiting my permission. After I nodded, he took my arm gently and began unwrapping the bandages. I hissed in pain as his arm accidentaly bumped my shoulder, causing the rash to throb slighty. "Wow," Damien said as he studied the wound closely after it was fully unwrapped, "that's quite an injury you've got there. It looks the wound from a scorpion tail, correct?"

"Yes, it was quite a tricky Kishin," I confirmed.

"But, I don't understand. Based on the rash, I can tell what type of scorpion it was, and I can tell you right now that the venom should've fully spread," he said as he met my eyes seriously. "You should already be dead by now."

My posture stiffened as he caught the clue. "I'm just….different."

"Care to elaborate? I can't really help you unless I know the circumstances."

I sighed heavily, not wanting to go into too much deatil. "I'm a Goddess of Life, okay? My mother creates human souls and I'm her daughter. My body is just a little different from a human's."

Damien's mouth fell open. "That's quite a story you've got there, missy. So, does that mean you create souls like your mother?"

"No, not yet. I'm not strong enough and if I tried now, I could hurt myself. I have to train a little better first."

"I see," Damien whispered as his eyes remained distant. "Well now, about your wound. I might be able to whip something up to stop the venom from spreading. All I need are a few ingredients that you'll need to help me get.

"Wait, that's it?" I asked. I had pictured it to be much more….complicated than that.

"Yep, that's it."

"Great, then what do you need? We'll start looking for it right away!" Kid said anxiously.

Damien stood up from his stool and picked up a stray book, flipping through it and mumbling to himself. "I need a few herbs that you can probably find in the woods out there if you look hard enough. I think I'll just show you the pictures since you probably don't know what they are in the first place," he said as he set the book down on the desk. We all crowded around to get a good look at what we needed to find. Damien pointed to a photo of a thin green plant with blue thorns and purple petals, a plant with red veins and yellow petals, and a small pink flower with five petals.

"This is it?" Derek asked.

"Yep, that's it. Once you find those, I'll be able to crush them and use them to make her antidote. I just need to add it to the anti-venom for it to take full effect. I think I already have some of the right anti-venom in stock, though."

"Okay, then. Let's go! Time's a-wasting!" I said, eager for this to be over with.

"Yay! Treasure hunt! Treaure hunt!" Patty cheered as she skipped for the door.

"Good luck," Damien said as we all filed out and he closed the door behind us.

We huddled together as Kid discussed a game plan. "Okay, I think this will be faster if we all split up and search in different directions. We'll enter the woods around this area to search here first. If you find anything, immediately go back to Mr. Archer's lab and give it to him. Everybody has their cell phones, right?"

"Right!" we answered as we held them up.

"Okay, then we'll meet back here before dark and if you get lost, you'll probably be better off calling me and I'll come get you with Beelzebub." When we all nodded in understandment, Kid said, "Then let's get started! Split up and search!"

Within seconds, our group had completely disbanded and entered the woods in different directions, scouring the earth for the plants that we needed. My eyes raked over the ground as I walked diligently, taking small steps and being careful not to miss anything. Some branches tugged at my hair and one of them dragged across my injured shoulder, causing me to yelp and notice that Damien forgot to bandage my arm back up. The rash was spreading even faster now, extending to my wrist and stretching across my stomach. This looked like it would be my last chance. I strode further and further, desperately tearing through the forest as I looked for anything that resembled the plants in the book. Damien did say that they were somewhere around here, right?

When I started to get tired, I leaned against a tree to catch my breath. Suddenly, a crack sounded behind me and my head whipped around to identify it. "Kid? Is that you?" I called out nervously. I was already pretty deep into the woods at this point. I couldn't even see the road from here.

Turning around to continue searching, the crack sounded again. "Derek, that better not be you! It's not funny!" I yelled, starting to get frustrated. After being answered again with silence, my eyes returned to the ground. A flash of pink caught my eye, causing me to bend over to investigate. A smile crept over my face as I counted five perfect petals.

"Guys! I found-"

I was cut off by an arm creeping around my torso and a hand pressing a cloth over my mouth. I screamed and struggled, but was easily restrained as I inhaled something sickly sweet and black spots started to cover my vision. I felt my limbs start to go limp and as I gave in to black, I thought about how close I had come to curing myself. But apparently, it wasn't over yet.

**Duh duh duh! Getting pretty suspenseful, huh? Almost done with this, just a few more chapters. Thanks for waiting patiently for this chapter and giving me some ideas to work with. So who do you think is taking Rai and for what reason? Tell me what you think!**


	18. Friend or Foe

"Time to wake up now little girl," a voice echoed as it called out to me through the blackness. I cleared my dry throat and my eyes slowly fluttered open to unfamiliar surroundings. Cuurently, I was in some sort of small and dark cave-like opening that was lit by only a few stray candles littered on the floor. Where was I? What happened? Then, all the memories returned to me and I remembered the Kishin, the pain, the wound, the venom, and the antidote. Someone had taken me while I was alone and vulnerable, but who?

Lifting my head up wearily, my hair did it's usually job of getting in my face. I tried to move my arms to sit myself up so that I could brush it away, but they wouldn't move at my command. My senses were instantly on high alert and my eyes snapped open as I struggled to move my arms again. Trying to figure out what was wrong, my questions was answered by a cold and restraining metal sensation. My arms and legs where firmly tied down my steel handcuffs and I was currently laying on a stone table-like structure. As I moved my head to take in what I could, I noticed that the edges of the stone structure were marked with cryptic symbols that I could't quite make out. Okay, what was going on?

Suddenly, I caught movement in the corner of my eye and turned my head to see who my captor was. "Who are you? What do you want with me?" I demanded as I squirmed further against my restraints. Geez, if I could only reach my cell phone….

"I'm glad that you're finally awake. That means we can get started immediately," a black figure said cheerfully as he came closer to the candlelight. I didn't need the light to know who it was though; I could smell the cigarette smoke and I never forgot a voice.

"Damien Archer," I said coldly as his face was illuminated by the candles.

"Hello, my dear. Are you comfortable?" he asked innocently with a sadistic smile on his crazed face.

"Quit the small talk. What do you want with me?" I spat as I glared at him while giving up on the stupid handcuffs.

"Tut-tut. What bad manners from such a pretty young girl," he said as he leaned closer and blew cigarette smoke on my face while stroking my cheek.

"Get away from you creep!" I shrieked as I jerked my face away from his touch. "Now answer my question."

Damien crossed his arms over his chest with an amused expression. "Like I said before, missy. It's all in the name of science."

"What?" I snorted. "You want to study me for science? That's what this is all about? If that's it, then you're a pretty lame excuse for a scientist because even Professor Stein showed more self control than you. Using science as an excuse for kidnapping is pretty pathetic." I narrowed my eyes and smirked, expecting to hit a nerve or something, but Damien didn't exactly have the reaction I was expecting. His mouth stretched into a smile, then chuckles escaped through his lips, growing louder and louder. Within seconds he had his head thrown back from the force of his insane laughter. My clever smirk disappeared from my face as I quickly lost confidence.

"Oh, I think you have my motives mistaken, my dear. I don't intend to dissect you or study you like my friend Stein would."

I blinked in confusion. "Then just what are you planning to do to me?" I asked warily.

"Well, I still do plan to use you for science, but I think you would be able to help me tremendously in my particular field of study."

"How do you figure that?"

Damien walked closer and leaned down so close that I could smell the cigarette on his breath. I wrinkled my nose in disgust, but refused to break eye contact with him and show weakness. "Because like you said, you are special. In order to study Kishins properly, I need something to lure them right to me."

My silver eyes widened as I realized what he was planning. "Human souls," I whispered.

"That's right," Damien said as he braced his arms against the stone table. "And you're going to make them for me. The Kishins won't be able to resist fresh human souls and I won't even have to kill any humans to get them!" he said gleefully as if he were the next Einstein.

"But I already told you! I can't make human souls yet! I'm not trained enough!"

"Oh, I'm well aware of that, my dear. That's why I chose to take you to this location. See the symbols on this lovely table that you're laying on?"

"What about them?" I asked, not bothering to look at the markings again.

"Well, I used to have a few good witch friends back in the day, and they taught me some valuable little tricks that I thought I was never going to use. You see, these markings, if used in the right way, will be able to draw the human souls right out of you and all I have to do is a little chant. You won't have a choice in the matter!" he explained sadistically as his crazed green eyes darted at each symbol in wonder at the power and control he had over me right now.

My breath caught in my throat and my heart stopped altogether. How many souls would this man draw out of me before it sucked out my own soul as well, taking my life. My body was still weak and who knows how much it would take to kill me. Even when I tried training with my mother, I still wasn't strong enough.

"You won't get very much out of me," I whispered. "My body won't be able to provide you with very many souls before I die."

"Oh, that's okay," Damien said as he shrugged his shoulders. "Every little bit counts. Cheer up! Like I said, this will all be for the greater good. You'll be helping my research greatly by doing this."

"Go to hell."

"My, my. Getting feisty, are we? Oh, and I guess I'll dipose of this while it's on my mind. I don't think you'll be needing it," he said as he held up my cell phone in his palm with a smile.

I frowned as I remembered my friends and Kid. They were probably out there still looking for those damn plants that Damien sent us to look for. "We didn't even need those plants, did we?" I asked Damien quietly.

He snorted in response. "Of course not! All you really needed was the anti-venom, but I needed an excuse to get your little group to spilt up. Pretty clever, wasn't it?" he said as he threw my cell phone to the ground and stomped it beneath his boot until tiny only tiny little pieces remained. "Well that takes care of that." He looked at me, then put his hands on his hips and sighed. "I guess I'll go get started with the preparations. You just stay there and make yourself comfortable," he said as he chuckled at his joke and walked towards the only door in this creepy place.

Once he left, I glanced down at my arm and saw that the rash had completely covered it and my stomach as well and was crawling up towards my chest. It probably wouldn't matter if this guy was going to start sucking souls out of me; if I didn't get that stupid cure, I was going to die anyways. So the question was: which was going to kill me first?

**So, what do you think is going to happen to her? We're reaching the climax soon! Also, I didn't really get many comments last chapter, so please review so I know that people are actually interested in what's going to happen next. Thanks to all my faithful readers out there, but alas, our journey must end soon!**


	19. I Love You

**Sorry it took a while to update! I was on vacation and didn't really have the time to get some serious writing done. Just got back today, so I thought an update was in order. I hope you enjoy!**

"C'mon, just a little bit further," I mumbled as I attempted yet again to slide my hands out of the handcuffs that kept me restrained on the stone table. I folded my fingers inward and pulled desperately against the cold metal until my hand turned white from the cut off of blood circulation. Because of the restraints, I couldn't lift my head up far enough to see my legs very well, but I could tell from a few halfhearted kicks that those cuffs weren't going to be any easier.

My head dropped to the table as I sighed at my own helplessness. Why didn't I stay and train with my mother a little longer? I'm supposed to be a freakin goddess and I can't even get out of these goddamn handcuffs; how in the hell am I going to take responsibility of giving life to an actual human being? That is…if I ever do live that long.

As I was reminded of my circumstances, my eyes traced the rash from the venom which was now fully covering my stomach and was creeping slowly up to my chest. It wouldn't be much longer until the venom stopped my heart. My hands clenched into fists and I grit my teeth together. This couldn't be the end, right? Kid and I were finally starting somewhat of a friendship, maybe even something more. I was well on my way to making two death scythes and taking over for my mother. It couldn't end here; not like this.

There had to be some way. Had the others noticed my absence yet? Were they looking for me? Hell, I still didn't know where I was yet. This stupid cave thing wasn't exactly on the map we looked at to find that stupid traitor Damien Archer.

Suddenly, the wooden door that was the only exit or entrance to this place slowly creaked open and three figures walked in. The tallest and bulkiest, which was obviously Damien, was the last to enter and closed the door behind his guests who were smaller and more petite, women I was guessing. They were all dressed in some sort of creepy ceremonial black robes as they drew closer to me; I definitely did not like the look of those.

I could not see the faces of our little guests under the hoods of their cloaks even as they drew closer and looked at me curiously. "Are you sure that this is the right girl?" one of them asked in a definite female voice.

"Yeah," the other one added. "She doesn't look like a goddess to me," she snorted as she crossed her arms, unconvinced by my ragged appearance.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't get all dolled up to get kidnapped," I sneered.

"That isn't a very goddess-like attitude either," one of the women whispered to the other.

Damien scowled and ran his hand through his hair. "Look, ladies, Franken would never lie about matters like this and he sent her directly to me. She even said so herself, so I think the odds are in our favor."

The two cloaked women took another glance at me as I glared menacingly in their direction with my steely silver eyes. "What's that rash thing all over her? It's not contagious, is it?"

Damien chuckled darkly. "Absolutely not. In fact, it won't even be a problem much longer."

"We're not here to screw around with you, Damien. We want payment straigh up as soon as the job is finished."

Damien smiled warmly and nodded. "That can be arranged just as long as everything goes according to plans. So, shall we get started, then?"

The women hesitated, but nodded and walked forward, positioning themselves so that one was standing at my head and the other at my feet.

"Who are these people?" I growled as Damien walked forward to join us at the table.

"Oh, just some old friends; nothing you need to worry about, my dear. They're only here to help us."

"Help you, you mean. Don't loop me in with your sadistic hobbies," I spat as I struggled against my restraints in a final futile attempt at escaping.

"My, my. What a temper!" the woman at my feet exclaimed as she chuckled in amusement.

"Trust me, I know. Let's get this over with," Damien sighed as he closed his eyes and furrowed his brow in concentration. The women also became serious as one of them grabbed my head at the temples and the other grabbed my ankles.

"Let go of me!" I shrieked as I shuddered at their cold and almost inhuman touch and tried my best to thrash out of their grasp, but their bony hands kept me in place.

The women started muttering in a different language under their breath and suddenly, the strange markings on the stone table started a glow a faint blue. What the hell was going on? Where they doing some type of weird voodoo?

I gasped and my eyes widened as I felt their bony hands starting to get warmer and warmer as Damien's husky male voice join in the strange chanting. At first, the warmth was almost gentle and comforting, but the temperature continued to increase and spread quickly throughout my entire body. The heat grew more and more intense until it felt like it was burning me alive.

"Stop! Please stop it!" I screamed at them, but they ignored my pleas with their eyes closed and continued the strange chanting while the warmth continued to burn me. The markings on the stone table were now shining brightly in a blinding shade of blue. The chants increased in tempo and volume as the voices of my tormentors grew more and more intense. The fire in my body seemed to grow even hotter and hotter, and then started to move. The warmth in my arms and legs began to fade, leaving the limbs cold and lifeless as the fire collected in my chest. It felt like all the heat in my body had all gathered to that one spot, searing through my ribcage. Terrible screams ripped through my throat as I thrashed under the tight control of the women and the symbols on the table grew even brighter still. As the fire in my chest intensified to a climax, my back arched off the table and one long wail echoed throughout the cave as the heat began bubbling out of my chest, taking on a solid form and leaving my body.

I collapsed to the table, completely exhausted, but no longer in agonizing pain. Sweat made my hair cling to my forehead and my chest heaved with every breath I took while the glow from the symbols on the table began to fade. Meanwhile, three blue orbs hovered in the air above my body only to be snatched up greedily by Damien and the two women.

"Well, these look good enough. They must be the real deal," one of the women said as she nodded in approval after inspecting the human soul thoroughly.

"See ladies, what did I tell you? I knew it would work!" Damien cried as he eyed the souls proudly.

"But there's only three of them," the other woman complained.

"Oh, don't worry. There will be plenty more where that came from," Damien replied darkly as he snatched the human souls from the women and stuffed them roughly in a burlap sack along with his own.

"You're crazy!" I choked out between ragged breaths. "You can't treat human souls this way!"

"I'm afraid you don't get much of a say in the way I run things around here, my dear. Now how about we try that again and squeeze a few more out of you."

"But, I can't! I'm surprised I could even do that much! I'll die if I push myself any further and you'll lose your best source of human souls!" I said, trying to get him to see reason by any means necessary.

"Well, that's a risk I'm willing to take," Damien replied coldly as he tilted his head at his little helpers.

Without warning, the women grabbed my temples and ankles again to resume their demonic chants as the process repeated itself. This time, I could barely find the energy to fight back as the heat tortured my body. This was it. With these last couple souls, I knew my body would reach my limit and would shut down. This was the end. As the fire raged on in my chest, black spots invaded my vision and I could feel my body start to go limp. I wouldn't even be able to make these last souls; what a waste.

Suddenly, I heard a loud crash followed by gunshots and screams, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I felt the hands on my body disappear the fire begin to fade, but it wasn't enough; I was still slipping away. Energy seemed to seep uncontrollably from my body and I was being consumed slowly by the blackness. Somehow, I was vaguely aware of the handcuffs being unlocked and a pair of strong arms lifting me up and placing me on the ground. A hand gently checked my pulse, the stroked my face.

"Rai? Rai, can you hear me?"

Wait, Kid? Was that Kid? What was he doing here? I couldn't see him, couldn't find him through the blackness though I was desperate to see his face one last time.

"Rai, please just stay with me! Don't you dare leave me! Rai, please!" the familiar voice begged. I wanted to tell him everything was going to be okay, that I didn't feel any pain now. I wanted to tell him for the first time how I felt about him.

"Rai, you have to live! Rai please wake up!" his voice was fading, now becoming so quiet that I could barely hear him. I didn't want him to leave me! There was something I needed to say!

"I love you."

I felt a single tear slide out of my eye and roll down my cheek. He took the words right out of my mouth.


	20. Good Enough

"….I don't know about this one," I mumbled as I observed my reflection in the mirrors in front of me.

Maka and Tsubaki walked in a circle around me and scrutinized me carefully at every angle while Patty observed from a nerby chair, absentmindedly licking an ice cream cone she had purchased earlier. "Why not, Rai? It has nice shape, comfortable fabric, and the color's not too bad either," Maka offered as she put her hands on her hips and nodded in approval.

I made a face as I turned my back on the mirrors and looked her in the eye. "Maka, I look like I'm about to get married."

Silence hung in the air until Maka and Tsubaki burst out laughing, breaking the awkward silence. Tsubaki grabbed a handful of the monstrosity of a dress that I was wearing. "Maybe, you're right; it is a little much for a simple party isn't it?"

Patty giggled and began humming the 'Here Comes the Bride' theme while I shot her an exasperated look. "I don't see what's so funny," I huffed as I turned my head and caught my reflection again and wrinkled my nose. The dress was way overdone with lace and ruffles out the whazoo and in a shade of white could blind you for days. All you had to do was stick a veil over my head and call me a bride - anybody would believe it. I pouted as I lifted up the hem of the dress so I could walk properly and collapsed on one of the chairs of the dressing room. "You guys know that I have no clue about this kind of stuff! We've been shopping for hours and it's gotten us nowhere!"

Maka smirked slightly at my complaints and twirled one of her pigtails around her finger. "On the contrary, the rest of us found dresses that we liked a while ago. I think that you're being a little picky, Rai," she joked.

I narrowed my eyes at the blonde scythe meister. "And what if I am? This dress needs to be absolutely perfect! Not just for me…..but for Kid too….." I trailed off as thoughts of him distracted me from the present.

Suddenly, Liz burst through the door holding a pile of black fabric in her hands. "I've done it!" she announced proudly. "I've found the perfect one!" She grinned broadly before letting herself take in the dress that I was currently wearing. "You know what? I don't even want to know." The elder demon pistol hoisted me up from my seat before abruptly dropping the new dress in my arms and shoving me into the nearest dressing stall. "Hurry up and change, Rai! I need to see my brilliance with my own eyes!" she boasted from the other side of the door.

I rolled my eyes and unzipped the dress I was wearing and stepped out of it without tripping. After taking a quick glance at the black dress that Liz had picked out for me and deciding that it wasn't 100% horrific, I pulled it over my head and let the fabric slide down and position itself over my body before curling my arms behind my head so that I could release my hair and let it fall over my shoulders. I took and deep breath, then opened the door to face any and all criticism.

"Well?" I asked, standing there with my hands on my hips. I scanned the faces of Maka, Tsubaki, and Liz to look for any signs of disgusst, but just saw wide eyes and blank expressions. "What?" I asked, starting to get self-conscious.

"R-Rai? Did you look at yourself in the mirror in there before coming out here?" Maka asked as she pointed to the dressing stall that I had just come out of.

I raised my eyebrow. "No. Why, is it really that awful?"

Silence overcame the room again until Tsubaki walked over and guided me over to the set of mirrors in the dressing room. I looked at my reflection and saw…a girl I did not recognize; she couldn't possibly be me. W-what magic did this dress posess to make me look like this. In the mirror, I could now see why the other girls were so speechless. The dress was strapless and hugged my upper body in a flattering way, but then cascaded into a ruffled skirt that gave the dress volume, but still didn't take away from my body shape. I did a quick turn in the mirror to catch the dress from all angles. In this dress, I had…..curves. The dark black fabric also contrasted perfectly with my pale skin, making it almost seem to glow and made my orange hair all the more bright and fiery. And above all else…..the dress was perfectly symmetrical.

"Liz!" I squeaked.

"Yes?"

"You're a genious."

After I announced my approval, the room erupted in girlish squeals as all three girls rushed over to me, to take the dress in at every angle and marvel at it's perfection.

"Oh, the fabric is so soft! Liz, how did you find this?"

"Oh, a girl has her ways."

"Rai, it makes you look so much older."

"Yeah, you look beautiful already and we haven't even done your hair and make-up!"

"It's the perfect dress. Kid will love it!"

I smiled at the other girls and took a deep breath, glancing at myself in the mirror one last time. "Yeah, I hope so."

And so the rest of the day consisted of buying the dress, driving with the girls to Gallows Mansion which had been designated as our for the day so that the girls could properly get ready for the dance without worry of the boys peeking us. Liz already had her room set up with every girly product known to man from hairspray to nail polish to perfume. She and Tsubaki already knew how to use them fairly well already and Maka had a good enough understanding to get her by, but I just stared at the foreign products while placing my dress on Liz's bed and glanced at them warily.

"Is all this stuff really necessary? I mean, it's just a dance."

Liz whipped her head around and looked at me incredulously. "Are you kidding? Of course all of this is necessary!" She walked over and grabbed me by the shoulders to convey the importance of the matter. "This is not just a party. This is _the_ party!"

I blushed slightly, vaguely aware of what she meant. It had been a few weeks since the incident that almost cost me my life. This party was supposed the be the event that would make me hopefully forget it forever, and honestly, I wouldn't mind to forget that it happened anyways. Everything that had happened was all a little hazy and I was missing bits and pieces, but I got the jist of it. Kid and the others had reached me just in time and caught Damien right in the act. They arrested him, while the two mysterious women were able to escape, and had the authorites take him away - apparently he was sentenced to life in prison. The souls that I had involuntarily created for him were in the proper care of my mother now and Kid was even able to find the antivenom that Damien had stored away, that is, after beating the location of it out of the crazed scientist first. Basically, everything turned out okay and the dance tonight was supposed to signal the beginning of normality. But wait, nothing could ever be normal again in my eyes, because there was one significant thing that I remembered above all else - Kid had told me that he loved me. Kid was, of course, holding it here in Gallows Mansion….and….he had asked me to go with him. Liz was right; this was_ the_ party. The first event in which Kid and I would officially viewed as a couple; it had to be perfect.

I sat on Liz's bed with a determined look on my face and sat up straight. "Okay, Liz, go for it."

She rubbed her hands together with a crazed smile on her face. "Excellent." She glanced around at the other girls before barking out orders. "Patty, you take nails. Tsubaki, you do the make-up. Maka, you handle the dress and accessories. I'll take her hair; I know how Kid likes it. Alright girls, let's get to work!"

The group squealed with delight before rushing over and attacking me. I felt myself being dragged to sit in a chair directly in front of Liz's vanity mirror and counter full of products, but Liz swivelled the chair around so that I wouldn't be able to see my reflection and winked at me. "Not until we're finished."

I pouted and crossed my arms over my chest before Patty yanked one of them by my hand and grabbed a bottle full of black nail polish. Meanwhile, Liz grabbed handfulls of my thick hair and ran her fingers through it, arranging it in different styles that I couldn't see before dropping it and shrugging. "Hm, I think simplicity is best. We wouldn't want to steal attention away from your face and dress now would we?" she commented with a smile before reaching over the counter and plugging in a hair straightener.

Tsubaki smiled at me before picking up a case of face powder on Liz's magical counter and gently applying some to my face before reaching for the tubes of lipstick and examining each one carefully. She narrowed it down to two colors and showed them to Maka for approval. "Which one do you think?"

Maka dropped the several pairs of earrings in her hands before looking at the tubes and pointing to one. "I think the darker one. She needs some color to her face, especially with that dress." Tsubaki nodded and opened the lipstick and applying it properly. Maka held up different pairs of earrings up to my ears before glancing to Liz. "What type of jewelry do you think we need? Heavier or plain?"

Liz glanced over to the dress, then back to me and said, "I think plain is fine. She really doesn't need too much."

"Hey, do I get a say in any of this?" I asked while squirming uncomfortably in my seat.

"Nope!" Patty giggled before finishing off the nails on one hand and reaching for the other.

Tsubaki smiled at me reassuring while applying some blush to my face. "Just let us take care of it, Rai. Trust me, by the end of the night, you'll be gorgeous!"

Liz nodded in approval and perked up when the beep from the straightener sounded off, signalling that it was at the right temperature. "Yeah, when we're done, Kid won't be able to take his eyes off of you."

I closed my mouth grudgingly, knowing that I would probably be lost with all this make-up stuff without their help anyways and slouched in my seat, letting them do their work. It felt like I was sitting in that chair for hours with the girls working on me before Liz finally backed up to get one final look at me before nodding in approval. "Okay, I think we're almost done. Maka, get the dress!" she commanded. Before Maka could move, the sound of a bell echoed through the halls, making everybody perk up and glance toward the direction of the bedroom door. "Who could that be?" Liz asked with a frown before looking down at her sister and noticing that she was done with my nails. "Patty, can you check that out?"

"On it!" the younger Thompson sister cheered before skipping out the door to see who the mysterious visitor was.

I sighed with relief while Maka retrieved my dress from the bed and helped me step into it carefully, zipping me up in the back when I got situated. With the dress on, my hair in some fashion that I was unaware of yet, and my face looking like God knows what, I looked at the girls warily as they stepped back to get a good look at their handiwork. "Well? I asked.

Their expressions almost matched the moment when I had found the perfect dress, but were now even more dramatic. Liz held up a hand to the others with a satisfied smile. "High fives all around, girls. Good job today."

Maka slapped her hand first before rushing over to me and gripping my arm. "Rai, you look just like a real goddess now!"

I rolled my eyes, not really offended. "Gee, thanks!"

Maka noted my sarcasm and laughed. "Oh you know what I meant!"

Tsubaki walked over to me as well with a warm smile. "But she's right, Rai. You look beautiful!"

I bit my lip nervously and glanced at Liz since she seemed to be the one in charge. "Can I look in the mirror now?"

Liz nodded, putting her hands on her hips and smiling widely. I took a deep breath and spun around to face the vanity mirror, not knowing what to expect.

Was I really good enough?

**Well, this story is finally winding down to a close. I really want to aplogize for taking so long, but I've been a little distracted all summer. But I figured I'd get one last cliffie out of my system before finishing off the story for good. I know that I kinda cheated and skipped ahead and I will admit, I probably could've done better with this story, but I knew it wasn't fair just to leave it because I was unhappy with it when there were eager readers out there who actually like it for some odd reason. So, this one is for you guys! I really appreciate all the support you have given me over the months, but sadly, the next chapter will be the last! I'll try to post that one as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience!**


	21. Mother

The mirror could've been a portal for all I knew – a magical portal that led to a parallel universe in which I looked….girly. Not just girly, but beautiful. The other girls were completely silent as I walked closer to the mirror and warily touched the glass. The girl in the reflection mirrored my actions. I hesitated, then ran a hand through my hair; it felt just as silky smooth as it looked on the girl in the mirror. I raised an eyebrow, finally accepting that this girl had to be me, and paused to really take in what the girls had done to me.

My hair, which was normally down and in my face in practically uncontrollable waves was now straight and smooth with half of it pulled up and tied in the back of my head with a pretty black ribbon. The fiery orange locks spilled over my shoulders and shined against the inky fabric of my dress which was now even more flattering than it had been in the store. My face now looked less childish and more defined and mature with my eyelashes lengthened significantly with mascara and my upper eyelids decorated with dark eye-shadow. The darkness around my eyes highlighted my silver irises and made them seem to sparkle in the right lighting while my lips were adorned with dark lipstick. The dark make-up contrasted with my pale skin perfectly, making me look like a porcelain doll especially when combined with the gorgeous dress I was wearing. I noticed that all the marks on my skin from the Kishin venom had healed and disappeared until now they were nonexistant. Finally, to top it all off, a simple silver neckalace hung around my neck which matched the silver hoops hanging from my ears.

I stared at myself for a few moments longer, then smirked and watched the porcelain doll in the mirror return to looking like me again. Huh, at least I could be vaguely recognizable at times. I turned around to face the girls who returned my gaze with expectant eyes, waiting for feedback on their hard work. I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest. "Well, you've done it. I look like a girl."

Liz blinked, then smiled broadly. "Hell yeah, you do! The boys will be drooling over you tonight!"

Tsubaki elbowed Liz jokingly and glanced at me with kind eyes. "Too bad that she's taken, though. Kid is one lucky guy."

"Yeah, I'm sure he'll be getting plenty of jealous looks tonight!" Maka added with a giggle.

I blushed lightly while thinking about Kid; I might actually be able to pull tonight off as long as I didn't do anything stupid. But, knowing me, anything was possible.

Suddenly, a loud knock sounded at the door and Patty poked her head in and looked at me. "Wow, what did you guys do when I was gone? Rai, you look hot!"

I laughed at her bluntness, then curtsied sarcastically. "Why thank you, my dear Patty."

Patty laughed, then opened the door fully and pointed outside, giving me questioning stare with her innocent blue eyes. "There was a visitor at the door who says she knows you, Rai. I let her in and she's waiting outside."

I raised an eyebrow and glanced at the other girls who shrugged, also looking confused. Without a word, I strode towards the bedroom door and peeked around the door frame to look into the hallway. Waiting for me just outside the door was a beautiful woman with soft features, flowing orange hair, and lovely blue eyes. She stood there with her arms crossed behind her back in a flattering white dress and sent me a warm smile as I peeked my head around the corner and opened her arms for me expectantly.

I gasped and ran forward without hesitation and practically lept into her arms. "Mother!" I cried as I buried my face into her soft shoulder and inhaled her familiar scent.

I felt her hand reach up to stroke my hair, being careful not ruin Liz's handiwork and I heard her tinkling voice greet me warmly. "Hello sweetheart." She placed her hands on my shoulders and pulled me back so that she could look at me fully. Her eyes raked over me and another beautiful smile lit up her face. "My, my. Just look at you! My little girl looks so grown up!"

I grinned proudly up at her and pulled her into another hug before taking her hand and leading her back to the bedroom. "Well you can thank my friends for that," I said while gesturing to the girls who eyed the new guest with curiousity. "I'd like you to meet Maka, Tsubaki, Liz, and Patty. Guys, this is my mother."

Each of the girls glanced at my mother with wide eyes, not quite sure how to react. After all, how do you greet the very person who created your soul? My mother broke some of the awkwardness and smiled warmly at them. "It is very nice to finally meet you girls in person. You have treated my daughter well and I am very grateful."

Maka spoke up first while the other girls relaxed slightly as the tension was broken. "It was no trouble. That's what friends are for!"

Tsubaki then whispered to Liz who nodded and gestured for the girls to gather their dresses. "We're going to go get ready in the other room across the hall. Call us if you need anything," she said as she glanced again at my mother and herded the other girls out into the hallway and closed the door behind her to give me and my mother some privacy.

As soon as the door shut, I sighed and led my mother over to the bed so that we could sit down. I flopped down on it with little regard for manners. "Mom, you would not believe what has happened to me these past few weeks!" I said as dramatically while my mother sat down gracefully and crossed her legs at the ankle while watching me with amusement.

She laughed lightly with a voice like tinkling bells. "Oh, I think I can. I've been watching you, dear. Did you think I would just forget about my Little Goddess?"

I pulled myself more onto the bed and rolled over on my stomach while tracing patterns on the bedspread. "Well, no. But I thought we agreed that once I left for the DWMA you would stop spying on me."

My mother smirked while waving a hand through the air nonchalantly. "Oh, you know a mother can't promise that. I couldn't help but just peek in every now and then."

I knew that I should've been offended or even angry with her, but I wasn't. Not at all. In fact, I was even happy that she cared about me so much to chance the wrath of spying on me without my permission. "Well, I've been doing my best. I killed a high ranking Kishin….before….it….." I trailed off, not wanting to relive the memories.

"I know you did sweetheart," my mother said while putting a comforting hand on my shoulder. "And you've done wonderfully. That was just an unfortunate accident that could not have been prevented. And as for Damien Archer, he was obviously unstable and he would've hurt countless others if you and your friends hadn't interfered."

I looked down at the bedspread with an ashamed expression and lowered my head so that it rested on my arms. "I didn't do anything, though. I was just a stupid damsel in distress."

My mother lifted my chin up so I would look at her and smiled. "Honey, when will you understand that you're not indestructable? You put expectations so high for yourself, but you don't realize how extraordinary you truly are. I am very proud of you, my dear."

I blinked up at her kind face with a confused expression. "You mean, you aren't disappointed that I chose to do this instead of my training?"

"Of course not, Rai. I've always known that you are a girl who grows at her own pace and follows her own rhythm. I may be your mother, but I cannot control what your heart wants." She looked over my fancy dress and grinned again. "And speaking of your heart, it seems that someone has swooped in and stolen it."

I blushed and swatted her hand off my shoulder playfully. "Oh don't act so coy!"

"Oh I'm not, dear!" my mother reassured me. "In fact, I was expecting this all along. I am actually quite happy for you," she said as she began stroking my hair again. "Death the Kid is quite a charming boy, isn't he? I knew that something would develop between you two eventually."

I pouted childishly at first, then sighed and looked down at my dress. "I suppose. But I don't know what to do around him. I just don't know about all the girly stuff," I mumbled as I played with my hands.

"Sweetheart, you've grown up with Death the Kid ever since you two were three years old. I think by now he knows exactly the type of girl you are. You don't have to change the way you've always been just because your bond has become stronger." Without warning, she leaned over and kissed me on the forehead and smiled. "Just be yourself."

Her smile was contagious and I felt my own growing on my face at the advice. She was right after all. All those years, Kid had not changed one little bit from when we were kids. So why should I? He obviously was well aware of what he was getting himself in to – he knew me well enough to like me just for me. "How do you know always know what to say?" I asked.

My mother put a finger to her lips and whispered. "It's a secret," before looking over her shoulder. "I'm afraid I have to leave now, dear. I've been quite busy lately."

I frowned before raising an eyebrow. "Then why did you take the time to come here?"

"Oh, I just had a feeling you needed it," she said before shrugging her delicate shoulders.

She was right, though. This was exactly what I needed especially on a day like this. Needless to say, my nerves were a little frayed, but my mother could always find the words to bring me back. I got myself back into a sitting position on the bed and hugged her again. "Thank you, mother."

She patted my back comfortingly while leaning her cheek on my head. "You know, I am always here if you need me. I may be a busy woman, but I can always make time for you, my Little Goddess."

"I know."

Before long, I felt her arms start to release me and I looked up as her bright eyes shone with familiar mischief. "But for right now, you don't need your mother sticking round. You have such good friends to take care you. And a handsome young man waiting for you downstairs," she added with a wink.

I smirked before hauling myself off of the bed and leading her to the door. "I'll show you to the-"

"No thank you," my mother said as she raised a hand up to stop me. "The party has almost started down there and we wouldn't want certain people to see you before the right time comes. I can let myself out."

I grinned, now seeing why so many people saw myself in this woman. I nodded and rushed forward to hug her again. "Goodbye mother."

"Goodbye my darling. And good luck!" she said as she let me go and walked down the hallway with her white dress flowing behind her until she started to glow a faint white color. Within a few steps, the glow became brighter and brighter before it flashed blindingly and my mother was gone. I stared after her for a few minutes, then smiled and walked across the hall to knock on the door the other girls were changing in. It wasn't long before the door flew open and Liz yanked me inside and the showered me with questions.

"Was that really your mother? She was so pretty! What did she come here for? What did she say? We're not in trouble or anything are we?"

"Woah woah woah! Liz, chill out! Nothing is wrong!" I assured her. "She just came to tell me….exactly what I needed to hear."

**Okay, I lied. The NEXT chapter will be the last. I started writing it before thinking "Huh, I've never really written anything about Rai's mother," so I thought I'd do a quick chapter with her in it before finishing up the story. Hope you all enjoyed it! Please leave me comments so I feel motivated to finally finish this thing!**


	22. Beautiful

"ALRIGHT!" Liz thundered as she clapped her hands together authoritatively, bringing the attention of the rest of the girls in the room to her. "Is everybody ready to knock them dead tonight?" she asked with a sly grin as she put her hands on her hips. Really, if anybody was going to be knocking anybody dead, out of all of us, it would probably be her. That girl definitely knew what she was doing when it came to the world of fashion and her tight baby blue dress that matched her eyes perfectly proved it. She wore almost no make-up and her hair was up in a messy, but still somehow trendy bun with pieces hanging down that added just the right touch of elegance.

As I looked around the room at the rest of the girls, they all looked equally as stunning. Patty looked great in herlittle red cocktail dress and her short hair in bouncing curls and Tsubaki looked amazing as always in her fitted purple dress, wearing a little more make-up than usual, but it just added to her beauty. Her long raven hair was now down and in it's natural flowing elegance. Lastly, I looked over to Maka who could definitely not get left behind here. Her deep green gown flowed gracefully over her body and her stylishly crimped hair made her look like some sort of mermaid princess.

Oh Shinigami…how would I ever be able to compete with any of them?

"I'm ready if everybody else is ready," Tsubaki said with a gentle smile as she timidly ran her fingers through her glossy hair.

"Yeah, same for me!" Maka said, folding her hands in front of her and smiling happily, bringing beautiful color to her skin and adding to her beauty.

"Patty's ready, Patty's ready! Let's goooo!" Patty cheered as her elegant appearance slowly melted away to reveal her usual child-like demeanor. She bounced up and down excitedly, her blue eyes shining with delight and her short curls bouncing right along with her movements.

Liz grinned at the girls' enthusiasm, then glanced over to me expectantly. "What about you, Rai? Are you ready to get out there?"

I bit my lip and crossed my arms over my chest uncomfortably. No, there was no way in hell that I was ready! Then again, I didn't think there was ever going to be a time where I was. Still, I shrugged instead of giving her a straight-forward answer, making her frown and walk over to stand beside me, looping one of her arms in mine. "Oh c'mon, there's no reason for you to be worried. You look great and you'll be fine! Just try and have fun!" she encouraged me.

"Yeah!" Maka chimed in as she walked to the other side of me and looped her arm in my free one. "And we'll always be here if you need us. Girls have to stick together, right?" I opened my mouth to answer, but was cut off my a loud knock on the door; our heads swivelled in response to the noise.

"Who could that be?" Tsubaki asked aloud as she tilted her head curiously.

"Well the party should be starting any minute now. Maybe somebody came to check on us?" Liz offered.

I gulped loudly. What if it was Kid? What if he was standing right outside the door and he walked in and looked at me and…

"Patty! Go see who it is!" Liz said to her sister.

"Kay!" Patty responded as she bounded over to the door and swung it open without hesitation. I glanced over her shoulder anxiously, but thankfully Kid wasn't among our visitors. In fact, it was only my partners.

Derek and Mason cleaned up nicely, both dressed in similar tuxedos, but Derek wore a blue dress shirt and black tie while Mason fashioned a green shirt underneath and a black tie. Derek looked like his usual tall, lean, and suave self while Mason had actually changed some in appearance. He must've gotten contacts, because he abandoned his glasses today, making his brown eyes warmer and more inviting now than they usually were from behind the glass. And he had smoothed his spikey hair down, taking away from his normal boyish appearance and actually making him look handsome, not that he already wasn't. Still, I blinked, looking from partner to partner before breaking out in a smile.

"Wow, you guys look great!" I said, taking a few steps forward to greet them with my arms still interlocked with Maka and Liz.

Derek glanced in the direction of my voice, then just stared at me with a confused expression. "Uhhh, thanks, but...hey Liz! I thought you said that I knew everybody that was coming to this party!" He exclaimed with an accusing look in Liz's direction before glancing at me warily again.

"Huh?" Liz asked, raising an eyebrow, before glancing at me and unhooking her arm from mine. "Oh!" she said in sudden realization before she burst out laughing. "You do know her, though!"

I rolled my eyes and walked forward to punch Derek in the arm. "It's me, you idiot!"

"Ow, hey! That's not very polite!" Derek said as he recoiled and rubbed his injured arm.

Mason hid a chuckle behind his hand as he watched the scene unfold with amusement. "Dude, try taking another look at her."

I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at my partner as he looked at me again, more carefully this time. He blinked for a second before I could see the spark of recognition in his eyes. "Woah, hang on. Is that really you, Rai?"

I smirked and fake-curtsied. "The one and only."

"Woah, no way! You look…" Derek struggled to find the correct word while Mason facepalmed.

"Like a girl?" he offered.

"Yeah!" Derek exclaimed.

I sighed heavily. I was probably going to get that comment a lot tonight. "Thanks."

"Well, we just came up to check on you. The party's started downstairs and some people are starting to come in now," Mason explained as he fiddled with his tie.

"Cool, well we're pretty much ready, so let's go!" Maka said as she straightened her skirt and headed for the door, pausing at the opening to wait for the rest of us. Patty followed her excitedly, grabbing Mason's hand as she passed by him and pulled him along as he let out a small surprised yelp. Tsubaki laughed lightly as she followed them out the door.

Derek lightly looped his arm around Liz's shoulders as he stared after them. "What's up with your sister, Liz? Making a move on my poor brother, is she?"

Liz shrugged. "Who knows when it comes to Patty."

"Let's just hope Mason can keep up," I added with a giggle.

"Alright then, shall we go?" Derek asked suavely as he guided Liz to the door.

"I guess we don't have much of a choice," I mumbled quietly as I followed them out into the hallway and to the staircase.

"Hey," Derek said as he turned his face in my direction as he reached to top of the staircase. "You really do look great." And without even waiting for a reply, he grinned and wasted no more time descending down the staircase with Liz to join the others. My mouth just about fell open, but I held it together and paused to glance over the balcony to the scene below. It looked like th party had indeed started. The music was playing and a few people were starting to shuffle in, some heading for the food while some were already on the dance floor.

Biting my lip, I made my way over to the stairs and starting going down to the ground level slowly. This was it, after all – the party where everything was supposed to change. Would it be for better or for worse? I mean, I did the best I could do. I got better and healed after almost dying, for crying outloud! This should be easy! But as my breath started to quicken as I reached the last step, I wondered why it wasn't. Maybe because this world was unknown to me. The world of fighting and killing kishin eggs was familiar, but this world of dresses and make-up and dancing and…romance could've been one of the moons of Jupiter for all that I knew. But there was no time to think about it as my feet finally reached the ground floor. It was too late to turn back now.

I barely had time to look around the room before I felt hands on my arms, yanking me to the side. "Hey!" I protested as Liz, Patty, and Maka guided me through the steadily growing crowd of teenagers. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, just moving things along," Maka said nonchalantly as she and the others suddenly stopped.

As I looked in front of me, I saw the reason why. It was Kid, all dressed up and looking absolutely amazing in his black and white tux. He looked handsome as always, but somehow different in this setting. His brilliant golden eyes took on somewhat of a sparkle and he looked older, more mature in his tux with a classic and perfectly symmetrical tie with his father's logo printed on the front. Then I took in the scene around him as Derek, Mason, and Soul all had their hands pushing him forward and his bewildered expression that matched mine. It seems that our friends were indeed trying to move things along.

And then Kid's eyes found mine as he noticed me. And everything clicked. He froze and the boys slowly let go of him and the absense of contact on my arms told me that the girls had done the same, but I didn't look around to check. I couldn't look away from Kid.

I held my breath as Kid slowly walked forward and brought a hand up to touch my face, as if to make sure that I was real. After he was reassured of at least that much, he cleared his throat. "Is that really you, Rai?"

"Y-Yeah, it's still me. Surprisingly," I answered with a small sheepish smile.

Kid brought his hand back down as he took in everything – my hair, my make-up, my dress. "So Liz got to you, didn't she?"

I laughed. "Is it that obvious?"

Kid finally smiled broadly. "Well, yes," he said as a blush slightly warmed his cheeks and he cleared his throat again. "Rai…you look…"

I nervously watched him as he seemed to be at a loss for words just like Derek only moments ago. "Symmetrical?" I offered, trying to help him out in case he forgot the sacred word.

Kid hesitated, then shook his head with a smile and took a step closer. He rested his hands on my waist and dipped his head down towards mine, causing my eyes to widen in surprise. And then he spoke. "No. Beautiful." And before I could even react, he bent his head down and captured my lips in his.

Just in that moment, all the tension seeped out of me, because I knew that this was right. This was where I was supposed to be. Kid and I may be different, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

We are light and dark, day and night.

Life and Death.

**Well, that's the end of that, I guess! I'm sorry it took so long to write this, but I've kinda been preoccupied and had a million things going on…but you probably don't care much about my excuses, so yeah. Well, thanks for reading and all your support on this crazy ride of mine. I would like to thank all the people that have been here since the beginning and even the new readers that gave me the final push to make this last chapter happen. I hope you've enjoyed the story! I'd love to hear your comments or whatever for the ending, so send them in if you want! Thanks for reading Life and Death! Goodbye for now!**


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